Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Price Target to $48.00

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on SON. Citigroup cut their price target on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.4 %

Sonoco Products stock opened at $46.88 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79. Sonoco Products has a 52-week low of $44.35 and a 52-week high of $61.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.67.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 126.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,316.75. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Sonoco Products by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,128,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $543,638,000 after buying an additional 120,843 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,140,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $153,411,000 after purchasing an additional 136,965 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,594,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,746,000 after purchasing an additional 10,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $101,842,000 after purchasing an additional 42,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,203,000. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

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.