Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Sells 269 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $1,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Sonoco Products by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,787,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,474,000 after acquiring an additional 467,431 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Sonoco Products by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,506,000 after acquiring an additional 109,983 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Sonoco Products by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,181,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $118,573,000 after acquiring an additional 138,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Sonoco Products by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,654,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 38,437 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SON shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.33.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of SON stock opened at $56.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.72. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $49.98 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.31.

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

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.