Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Short Interest Up 16.4% in February

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, a growth of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 803,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,316.75. The trade was a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Haley acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $867,772.08. This represents a 19.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,128,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $543,638,000 after buying an additional 120,843 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,140,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,411,000 after buying an additional 136,965 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,594,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,746,000 after buying an additional 10,661 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% during 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 buying an additional 42,701 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $78,203,000. 77.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of SON stock opened at $47.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $44.36 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.01). Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.