Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Buys New Stake in Sonoco Products Company $SON

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 75,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at about $820,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 0.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at about $232,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at about $1,347,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 29.8% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 5,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sonoco Products in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

SON opened at $39.62 on Friday. Sonoco Products Company has a one year low of $39.46 and a one year high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 20.46%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter. Sonoco Products has set its Q2 2022 guidance at $1.60-$1.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products Company will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is 37.99%.

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.