Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 107.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,877 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 63.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,672,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 559,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,571,000 after purchasing an additional 230,709 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Sonoco Products by 312.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 185,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,126,000 after purchasing an additional 140,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 584,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,547,000 after buying an additional 126,867 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SON opened at $47.81 on Thursday. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $44.36 and a one year high of $61.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.88. 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 capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 126.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Sonoco Products news, CEO R. Howard Coker bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This trade represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,316.75. The trade was a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.