Renaissance Technologies LLC Increases Stock Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 30.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 212,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 49,200 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.22% of Sonoco Products worth $10,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the first quarter worth $26,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 78.8% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 12,183.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SON shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $54.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Sonoco Products has a 52 week low of $48.22 and a 52 week high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.02. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 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.