Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 228,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,210 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned approximately 0.23% of Sonoco Products worth $11,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $969,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 724,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,485,000 after acquiring an additional 371,096 shares during the period. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 266,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,863,000 after acquiring an additional 41,006 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 6.9% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 49.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 32,460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of Sonoco Products stock opened at $55.07 on Monday. Sonoco Products has a 1 year low of $52.76 and a 1 year high of $55.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.12 and its 200 day moving average is $55.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given 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 payout ratio is 52.53%.

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.