Versor Investments LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Versor Investments LP trimmed its position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,851 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SON. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,863,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,842,000 after buying an additional 42,701 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 63.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,107,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,108,000 after buying an additional 9,899 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,029,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,223,000 after buying an additional 344,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 584,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,547,000 after buying an additional 126,867 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of SON opened at $47.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $44.35 and a 12-month high of $61.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.81 and its 200 day moving average is $50.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.67.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Research analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 126.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sonoco Products news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $191,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,316.75. The trade was a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.76 per share, for a total transaction of $140,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,772.08. The trade was a 19.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

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.