Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 7.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Sonoco Products stock traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $56.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 515,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,165. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.96 and a 200 day moving average of $55.98. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $49.98 and a 1-year high of $63.74.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TheStreet cut shares of Sonoco Products from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.00.

Insider Activity at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, insider Jeffrey S. Tomaszewski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 $774,123.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jeffrey S. Tomaszewski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 13,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $774,123.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Adam Wood sold 537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total transaction of $30,630.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,691.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,076 shares of company stock worth $749,002. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.