Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) Receives $57.63 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Key Points

• Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with six firms issuing buy ratings and two recommending a hold on the stock.
• The company recently reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, falling short of the $1.44 anticipated by analysts, but showed a year-over-year revenue increase of 17.7% to $1.91 billion.
• Sonoco Products declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53, yielding approximately 4.7%, which will be paid to shareholders on September 10th.

Shares of Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.6250.

Several research firms have weighed in on SON. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Sonoco Products from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SON. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Sonoco Products by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 859,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,002,000 after buying an additional 166,552 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,533,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at approximately $820,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,179 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Sonoco Products by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 528,494 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,817,000 after acquiring an additional 20,075 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SON traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.89. 826,093 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 866,444. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.25. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $39.46 and a one year high of $56.77. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.53 and a 200 day moving average of $45.90.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 8.35%. The business's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging segments. The Consumer Packaging segment offers round and shaped rigid paper, steel, and plastic containers; metal and peelable membrane ends, closures, and components; thermoformed plastic trays and enclosures; and high-barrier flexible packaging products.