Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $45.63, but opened at $47.00. Sonoco Products shares last traded at $46.51, with a volume of 55,888 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 482,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SON. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.01). Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is 126.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SON. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,164,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 13.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 5,792 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 25.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 166,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,117,000 after acquiring an additional 34,382 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 305.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 97,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 73,099 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.