Headlands Technologies LLC Boosts Holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 2,086.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,653 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,580,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $149,275,000 after purchasing an additional 131,012 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $128,506,000 after purchasing an additional 109,983 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.4% in 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,654,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 38,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,363,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,890,000 after purchasing an additional 88,407 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Sonoco Products in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Sonoco Products stock opened at $55.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.30. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $52.76 and a one year high of $55.57.

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

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 52.53%.

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.