Insider Buying: Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) CEO Purchases $922,000.00 in Stock

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of SON stock opened at $48.45 on Thursday. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $44.36 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. Equities analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.06%.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SON. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter worth $78,203,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter worth about $60,984,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 368.6% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 666,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,555,000 after buying an additional 524,198 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,272,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,143,000 after buying an additional 442,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after buying an additional 437,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

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.