Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases Shares of 317,967 Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 317,967 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $15,533,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.32% of Sonoco Products at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,128,725 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $543,638,000 after purchasing an additional 120,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $101,842,000 after purchasing an additional 42,701 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,345,054 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $65,706,000 after buying an additional 43,238 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at $60,984,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Sonoco Products by 63.2% during 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. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at Sonoco Products

In related news, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 482,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This trade represents a 4.33 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 price of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $867,772.08. The trade was a 19.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Bank of America upped their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of SON stock traded up $0.70 on Monday, hitting $44.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,096. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $39.46 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.01). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is 126.06%.

Sonoco Products Company 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.