Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Sets New 12-Month High at $55.23

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $55.23 and last traded at $55.22, with a volume of 41733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SON. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.02. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $969,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Sonoco Products by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 724,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,485,000 after buying an additional 371,096 shares in the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 266,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,863,000 after purchasing an additional 41,006 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 6.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,363,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,890,000 after purchasing an additional 88,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 97,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after buying an additional 32,460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

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.