Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $1,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,863,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,842,000 after buying an additional 42,701 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,181,000 after buying an additional 437,128 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,107,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,108,000 after buying an additional 9,899 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,044,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,030,000 after buying an additional 15,454 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 584,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,547,000 after buying an additional 126,867 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SON shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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 dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sonoco Products news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,316.75. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John R. Haley acquired 3,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,772.08. The trade was a 19.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sonoco Products Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $45.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.55. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $44.35 and a 12-month high of $61.73.

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

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.06%.

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.