Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 38.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,344,531 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 850,624 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.37% of Sonoco Products worth $73,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SON. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products in the third quarter valued at $970,000. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 183,620 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,031,000 after buying an additional 81,780 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Sonoco Products by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 37,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 3,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Sonoco Products by 35.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,904 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SON. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Sonoco Products from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.00.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SON stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $50.31. 534,481 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 616,739. The stock has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.25. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $48.22 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

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.