Westhampton Capital LLC Raises Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Westhampton Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 35.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,630 shares during the period. Westhampton Capital LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $1,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 78.8% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the first quarter worth $50,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 31.5% in the first quarter. Norwood Financial Corp now owns 1,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SON shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SON opened at $52.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.68. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $48.22 and a 1-year high of $61.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.02. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.