Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Gap Down to $55.60

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $55.60, but opened at $54.29. Sonoco Products shares last traded at $54.34, with a volume of 182,489 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sonoco Products Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.40. 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 released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SON. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.8% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 27,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 78.8% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 42,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

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.