Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $394,000 Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SON. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,863,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,842,000 after acquiring an additional 42,701 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 63.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,107,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,108,000 after acquiring an additional 9,899 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,044,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,030,000 after acquiring an additional 15,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 584,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,547,000 after acquiring an additional 126,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sonoco Products news, CEO R. Howard Coker acquired 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at $770,316.75. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup reduced 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 2.4 %

SON stock opened at $46.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.29. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. 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 has a 12 month low of $44.36 and a 12 month high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.06%.

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.