Invesco Ltd. Purchases 155,893 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,358,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 155,893 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $66,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter worth about $60,984,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,181,000 after purchasing an additional 437,128 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,533,000. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,672,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $28,547,000 after buying an additional 126,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SON. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Bank of America upped their target price on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Howard Coker bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares in the company, valued at $22,237,026.50. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John R. Haley purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at $867,772.08. This trade represents a 19.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Sonoco Products stock opened at $44.11 on Tuesday. Sonoco Products has a 52 week low of $39.46 and a 52 week high of $61.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

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

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.06%.

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.