Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $10.87 Million Stake in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,370 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $10,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SON. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Sonoco Products by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sonoco Products by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 14,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $191,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,316.75. This represents a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 $22,237,026.50. This trade represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SON has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 upgraded Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price 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 research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of SON stock opened at $46.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.05. Sonoco Products has a 12 month low of $44.36 and a 12 month high of $61.73.

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). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio 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.