Insider Selling: Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Director Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,316.75. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

NYSE SON opened at $45.97 on Monday. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $45.93 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.71.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sonoco Products’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 64,915 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 11.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,631,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,465,000 after purchasing an additional 261,062 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,965,698 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,863,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,842,000 after buying an additional 42,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,490,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,602,000 after buying an additional 126,643 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SON has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on 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 increased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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, January 6th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.17.

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.