Sonoco Products - SON Stock Forecast, Price & News

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells industrial and consumer packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates through two segments: Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging. The Consumer Packaging segment round and shaped rigid paper containers; metal and peelable membrane ends and closures; thermoformed plastic trays and containers; printed flexible packaging; and global brand artwork management. The Industrial Paper Packaging segment provides fiber-based tubes, cones, and cores; fiber-based construction tubes; fiber-based protective packaging and components; wooden, metal, and composite wire and cable, as well as reels and spools; and recycled paperboard, corrugating medium, recovered paper, and material recycling services. Sonoco Products Company offers thermoformed rigid plastic trays and devices; custom-engineered molded foam protective packaging and components; temperature-assured packaging; injection molded and extruded containers, spools, and parts; retail security packaging, including printed backer cards, thermoformed blisters, and heat-sealing equipment; and paper amenities. The company sells its products in various markets, which include paper, textile, film, food, chemical, packaging, construction, and wire and cable. Sonoco Products Company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SON has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products to $67.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. TheStreet raised shares of Sonoco Products from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, July 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products to $73.00 in a report on Monday, July 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Sonoco Products from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.57.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:SON traded down $0.39 on Wednesday, hitting $65.42. 306,243 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,378. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.73. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $51.52 and a twelve month high of $67.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company's 50 day moving average price is $59.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.32.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 6.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 38.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 10th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 9th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio is 45.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Rodger D. Fuller sold 1,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total value of $118,681.94. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 83,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,241,139.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Rodger D. Fuller sold 1,898 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total value of $118,681.94. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 83,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,241,139.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ernest D. Haynes III sold 1,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $105,399.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,969. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.