Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.52 Per Share

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.52 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51.

Sonoco Products has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.5% annually over the last three years.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

Shares of Sonoco Products stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 394,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 432,883. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.80. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $49.98 and a one year high of $63.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 22.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SON shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Sonoco Products from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, insider Jeffrey S. Tomaszewski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $604,065.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,123.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Adam Wood sold 537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total value of $30,630.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 28,273 shares in the company, valued at $1,612,691.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey S. Tomaszewski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $604,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,123.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,076 shares of company stock worth $749,002. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the second quarter worth $235,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the first quarter worth $221,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the fourth quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the second quarter worth $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

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.