Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.43.

SON has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In related news, Director John R. Haley acquired 2,246 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $44.57 per share, with a total value of $100,104.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,804 shares in the company, valued at $927,234.28. This trade represents a 12.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker acquired 20,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 482,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This trade represents a 4.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 50,721 shares of company stock valued at $2,206,646. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,885 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,184,000 after buying an additional 21,799 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 14,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter valued at $298,000. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,198 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. 77.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.3%

SON stock opened at $45.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.68. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $39.46 and a one year high of $61.73. The company's 50 day moving average price is $45.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.02 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The company's revenue was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Sonoco Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is presently 137.66%.

Sonoco Products Company Profile

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.

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