Albion Financial Group UT Takes Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SON. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter worth about $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $596,205,000 after buying an additional 64,047 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased 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 valued at $40,485,000 after buying an additional 371,096 shares during the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $14,863,000 after acquiring an additional 41,006 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its position in 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 worth $5,465,000 after acquiring an additional 32,460 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 0.5 %

SON stock opened at $49.57 on Thursday. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $49.10 and a 1-year high of $61.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.07. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 20.79%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SON has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.33.

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.