Rise Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,969,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,205,000 after acquiring an additional 64,047 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 724,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,485,000 after purchasing 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% in the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 266,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,863,000 after purchasing an additional 41,006 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 97,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after purchasing an additional 32,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 501.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 53,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,005,000 after buying an additional 44,774 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on SON shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.33.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of SON opened at $55.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.72. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $49.98 and a twelve month high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.79% and a net margin of 5.86%. Sonoco Products’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is 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.