Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Price Target to $57.00

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on SON. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet downgraded Sonoco Products from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $63.33.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $57.12 on Friday. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $49.98 and a twelve month high of $63.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.07. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.79% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 51.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sonoco Products news, insider Russell K. Grissett sold 2,039 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.06, for a total transaction of $114,306.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,047.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sonoco Products news, insider Russell K. Grissett sold 2,039 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.06, for a total transaction of $114,306.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,047.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey S. Tomaszewski sold 10,500 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $604,065.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,123.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,076 shares of company stock worth $749,002 in the last ninety days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,969,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $596,205,000 after buying an additional 64,047 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,787,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,474,000 after buying an additional 467,431 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $128,506,000 after buying an additional 109,983 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,181,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,573,000 after buying an additional 138,181 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,654,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after buying an additional 38,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.