Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $50.96, but opened at $47.45. Sonoco Products shares last traded at $49.8860, with a volume of 184,822 shares changing hands.

The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.07). Sonoco Products had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SON has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Sonoco Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. UBS Group cut their target price on Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Bank of America lowered Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $69.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Sonoco Products during the second quarter valued at $657,016,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Sonoco Products during the second quarter worth about $204,968,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,567,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,004,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,329,000. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 2.4%

The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.58.

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.