Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,499 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned about 0.12% of Sonoco Products worth $6,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the first quarter worth about $26,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sonoco Products by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 12,183.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the first quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $55.68 on Wednesday. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $55.13 and a 1-year high of $56.07. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $52.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is 52.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.