Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 16th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.53 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.88%. This is a 1.9% increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

Sonoco Products has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.8% per year over the last three years. Sonoco Products has a payout ratio of 32.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sonoco Products to earn $6.85 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.4%.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.3 %

SON stock opened at $43.45 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $39.46 and a twelve month high of $61.73. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.05 and a 200-day moving average of $48.97.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SON. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of 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 target price 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 482,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.