Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Stake Decreased by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 724,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,485,000 after buying an additional 371,096 shares during the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 266,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,863,000 after buying an additional 41,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 97,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after buying an additional 32,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SON shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.33.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.8 %

Sonoco Products stock opened at $50.72 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.72. Sonoco Products has a 1 year low of $49.98 and a 1 year high of $61.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.29.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 20.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid 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 dividend yield of 4.10%. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.