Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 462 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 13,464.6% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 3rd quarter worth about $24,994,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Sonoco Products by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,631,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,465,000 after purchasing an additional 261,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 80.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 555,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,179,000 after acquiring an additional 248,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,935,000. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

NYSE SON opened at $50.15 on Friday. Sonoco Products has a 52-week low of $48.22 and a 52-week high of $61.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.80 and a 200-day moving average of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.69.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Sonoco Products’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 71.48%.

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.