Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) Short Interest Update

Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,306,907 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the March 15th total of 4,431,964 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 947,216 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SON. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $52.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, insider Ernest D. Haynes III sold 1,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total value of $89,152.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $528,769.03. This represents a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 172.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 1,263.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of SON traded up $2.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.47. 763,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 868,064. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $38.65 and a 1-year high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.20 and a 200-day moving average of $47.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.50.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company (NYSE: SON) is a global provider of diversified packaging solutions, serving a wide range of consumer, industrial and retail markets. The company offers a broad portfolio that includes rigid paper and plastic containers, flexible packaging, industrial core and tube products, thermoformed plastics, retail point-of-purchase displays, and packaging supply chain services. Through its solutions, Sonoco helps customers in food and beverage, personal care, chemicals, healthcare, home and garden, and electronics industries address their packaging needs, improve product shelf appeal, and optimize logistics efficiency.

With operations in more than 30 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, Sonoco leverages a global network of manufacturing facilities, recycling centers and distribution channels to meet the demands of multinational and regional customers.