Bank of America Raises Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Price Target to $71.00

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

SON has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sonoco Products from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.17.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $47.22 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.88. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $47.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.36.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 71.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sonoco Products by 13,464.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,965,698 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,994,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 63.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 437,128 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sonoco Products by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,029,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,223,000 after acquiring an additional 344,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 261,062 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.