VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys 21,200 Shares of Sonoco Products Company $SON

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) by 76.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $2,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SON. Choreo LLC raised its position in Sonoco Products by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 27,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 294,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,378,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 7.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 13,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 2.8%

Sonoco Products stock opened at $48.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.40. Sonoco Products Company has a 1-year low of $39.27 and a 1-year high of $60.67.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sonoco Products Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SON shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Monday, October 26th. 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 research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.38.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging company headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. Founded in 1899 as the Southern Novelty Company, it has developed from a producer of paper cones for the textile industry into a diversified provider of packaging solutions serving consumer, industrial and commercial customers.

The company manufactures a broad range of products, including composite cans and tubes, paperboard packaging, flexible packaging, thermoformed packaging, rigid plastic containers, protective packaging and packaging components.