Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Stake Lessened by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 63.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,503 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter valued at about $969,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Sonoco Products by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 724,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,485,000 after buying an additional 371,096 shares in the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 266,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,863,000 after buying an additional 41,006 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 6.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,363,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,890,000 after acquiring an additional 88,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 97,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,465,000 after acquiring an additional 32,460 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SON. StockNews.com downgraded Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.67.

Sonoco Products Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE SON traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.99. 467,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 582,481. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.04. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $48.22 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is presently 52.53%.

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.