Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Sets New 12-Month Low at $49.78

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $49.78 and last traded at $49.91, with a volume of 26126 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SON. Citigroup cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.33.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.69. 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 50-day simple moving average of $57.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.25.

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

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 52.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonoco Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 3.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 42,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 39.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 104,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,654,000 after purchasing an additional 29,630 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 154.8% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 730,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,681,000 after purchasing an additional 8,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.