Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,370 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.23% of Sonoco Products worth $10,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Sonoco Products by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Sonoco Products by 311.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products in the third quarter valued at approximately $111,000. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sonoco Products news, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of the 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 $867,772.08. This trade represents a 19.28 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker bought 20,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. The trade was a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on SON shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SON traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.97. 752,926 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 719,428. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.94. Sonoco Products has a 1 year low of $44.36 and a 1 year high of $61.73. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.08, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is 126.06%.

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.