Sonoco Products Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.52 (NYSE:SON)

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 15th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.52 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th.

Sonoco Products has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years. Sonoco Products has a dividend payout ratio of 35.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sonoco Products to earn $5.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.5%.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SON traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 499,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 609,382. Sonoco Products has a 52 week low of $48.22 and a 52 week high of $61.73. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $53.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.02. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SON shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Sonoco Products from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.00.

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.