Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Stock Moved Down to “Strong Sell” by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks reports.

SON has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Sonoco Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $69.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

NYSE:SON opened at $50.17 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.53. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $38.65 and a 1-year high of $60.67. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.07). Sonoco Products had a negative net margin of 3.08% and a positive return on equity of 16.40%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WPG Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 93.1% during the first quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Sonoco Products by 271.9% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in Sonoco Products by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 1,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Sonoco Products by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging company headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. Founded in 1899 as the Southern Novelty Company, it has developed from a producer of paper cones for the textile industry into a diversified provider of packaging solutions serving consumer, industrial and commercial customers.

The company manufactures a broad range of products, including composite cans and tubes, paperboard packaging, flexible packaging, thermoformed packaging, rigid plastic containers, protective packaging and packaging components.