Sonoco Products Company $SON Stock: Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Stake

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its stake in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 465,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 264,096 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $22,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Sonoco Products during the second quarter worth about $657,016,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,931,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $212,632,000 after acquiring an additional 32,810 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,968,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,497,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,979,000 after acquiring an additional 66,483 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,116,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,414,000 after acquiring an additional 12,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:SON opened at $49.57 on Thursday. Sonoco Products Company has a 1 year low of $39.27 and a 1 year high of $60.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.55, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.07). Sonoco Products had a positive return on equity of 16.40% and a negative net margin of 3.08%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sonoco Products Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently -93.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SON. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.38.

Sonoco Products Company Profile

Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging manufacturer founded in 1899 and headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. It develops packaging and related services for customers in industries including food, consumer goods, health care and manufacturing. Its products include metal and paper containers, flexible packaging, industrial paper-based packaging and protective packaging. Sonoco also provides packaging-related services, such as supply-chain and graphics management. The company serves customers worldwide through operations in multiple regions, including North America, Europe and Asia.