Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 1,675 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 821.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $95,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SON. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,645,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,192,000 after buying an additional 64,915 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Sonoco Products by 11.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,631,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,465,000 after acquiring an additional 261,062 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Sonoco Products by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,195,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,338,000 after purchasing an additional 50,577 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 13,464.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,980,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,441,000 after buying an additional 1,965,698 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,490,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,602,000 after acquiring an additional 126,643 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SON shares. StockNews.com lowered Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SON opened at $54.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.03. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $48.22 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.91%.

Sonoco Products 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.