Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys 237 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 12,183.3% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SON. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $54.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.68. Sonoco Products has a 52-week low of $48.22 and a 52-week high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. 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.