Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Short Interest Update

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, an increase of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 2,860,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 803,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John R. Haley purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,772.08. This trade represents a 19.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 482,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This trade represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonoco Products

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter worth $78,203,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter worth $60,984,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 368.6% in the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 666,430 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,555,000 after acquiring an additional 524,198 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,272,121 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,143,000 after acquiring an additional 442,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 437,128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SON shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of 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, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of Sonoco Products stock traded down $1.14 on Friday, hitting $46.69. 1,549,725 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 690,584. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.29. 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 company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $44.36 and a 12-month high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. Analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is presently 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.