Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Purchases 1,396 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.14% of Sonoco Products worth $7,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 5.7% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 27,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Sonoco Products by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SON has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

NYSE SON opened at $53.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.89 and a 200 day moving average of $55.42. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $52.76 and a one year high of $55.08.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.53%.

Sonoco Products Company 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.