Huntington National Bank Buys 426 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the third quarter worth $71,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter worth $84,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 311.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Sonoco Products during the third quarter valued at $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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 note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price 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 target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.76 per share, for a total transaction of $140,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at $867,772.08. The trade was a 19.28 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at $770,316.75. The trade was a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

NYSE SON opened at $43.77 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $47.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.77. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $43.40 and a 12-month high of $61.73. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its earnings results 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). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. 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.