Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 437,128 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 63.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 437,128 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 1.15% of Sonoco Products worth $55,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SON. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sonoco Products by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,645,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,192,000 after buying an additional 64,915 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,631,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,465,000 after purchasing an additional 261,062 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 13,464.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,980,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,441,000 after buying an additional 1,965,698 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,863,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,842,000 after buying an additional 42,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Sonoco Products by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,490,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,602,000 after buying an additional 126,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SON has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. 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 report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price target on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.17.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Sonoco Products stock opened at $47.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.82. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $47.18 and a 12-month high of $61.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.48%.

About Sonoco Products

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.