Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Price Target Cut to $50.00 by Analysts at Raymond James

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) had its price objective decreased by Raymond James from $54.00 to $50.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Sonoco Products from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sonoco Products in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.43.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SON opened at $45.01 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $45.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $39.46 and a one year high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.48%.

Insider Activity at Sonoco Products

In related news, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.76 per share, for a total transaction of $140,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at $867,772.08. This represents a 19.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares in the company, valued at $22,237,026.50. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 3,269 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 23.2% during the first quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 458.1% during the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 30,748 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new position in Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at about $243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

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.