American International Group Inc. Trims Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

American International Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 132,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,693 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Sonoco Products worth $7,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,969,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,205,000 after purchasing an additional 64,047 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in 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. raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 266,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,863,000 after purchasing an additional 41,006 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 97,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,465,000 after purchasing an additional 32,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 501.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 53,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 44,774 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of SON opened at $56.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.37. Sonoco Products has a 1 year low of $49.98 and a 1 year high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 20.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sonoco Products Company 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.