Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 261,062 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,631,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 261,062 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.68% of Sonoco Products worth $133,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter worth $62,387,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Sonoco Products by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,275,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,264,000 after buying an additional 300,697 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at about $8,507,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 5.3% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,580,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,275,000 after acquiring an additional 131,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 3,413.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 130,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,565,000 after acquiring an additional 127,065 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.8 %

SON stock opened at $54.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.34. Sonoco Products has a 12 month low of $48.22 and a 12 month high of $61.73. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.02. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.