Smith Moore & CO. Sells 3,542 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,542 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SON. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Sonoco Products in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sonoco Products by 311.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Sonoco Products in the third quarter worth $111,000. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sonoco Products

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SON. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SON opened at $43.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.12 and its 200 day moving average is $49.72. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $43.40 and a twelve month high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.06%.

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.