Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Stake Decreased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SON. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 13.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,240,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $515,546,000 after acquiring an additional 972,157 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,429,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,618,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 1,231.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 694,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,733,000 after acquiring an additional 642,109 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 20.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,787,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,474,000 after acquiring an additional 467,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SON. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sonoco Products news, VP Adam Wood sold 537 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total transaction of $30,630.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 28,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,691.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sonoco Products news, insider Russell K. Grissett sold 2,039 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.06, for a total transaction of $114,306.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,047.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Adam Wood sold 537 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total transaction of $30,630.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,691.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,076 shares of company stock worth $749,002. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.5 %

Sonoco Products stock opened at $56.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.68. Sonoco Products has a 1 year low of $49.98 and a 1 year high of $63.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.75.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 7.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 42.50%.

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.