Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SON. Raymond James cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.43.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 2.2 %

SON stock opened at $45.15 on Wednesday. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $39.46 and a twelve month high of $61.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sonoco Products

In related news, CEO R. Howard Coker bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 482,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,237,026.50. The trade was a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Haley purchased 3,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,772.08. This represents a 19.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 50,721 shares of company stock valued at $2,206,646 over the last ninety days. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Sonoco Products by 29.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,184,000 after acquiring an additional 21,799 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 6,869 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Sonoco Products by 110.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,018,000 after buying an additional 38,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Sonoco Products by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.