Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 19,590 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 147,436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,590 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $7,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sonoco Products by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 14,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of Sonoco Products stock opened at $46.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. 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 has a 52 week low of $44.36 and a 52 week high of $61.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.02.

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

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. 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.