17,348 Shares in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Acquired by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 17,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,969,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,205,000 after acquiring an additional 64,047 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 467,431 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 109,983 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 138,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 38,437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.33.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of SON opened at $56.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.72. Sonoco Products has a 52-week low of $49.98 and a 52-week high of $61.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.49 and its 200-day moving average is $57.37.

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

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 52.53%.

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.