Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Sold by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SON. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,969,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $596,205,000 after purchasing an additional 64,047 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 724,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,485,000 after purchasing an additional 371,096 shares during the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 41,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 32,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:SON opened at $50.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.29. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $49.98 and a 12-month high of $61.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

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. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.79% and a net margin of 5.86%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Sonoco Products’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on 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 raised their price target on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.33.

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.