Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Cross Below 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.49 and traded as low as $48.57. Sonoco Products shares last traded at $48.6740, with a volume of 902,642 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SON. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.38.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.49 and its 200-day moving average is $52.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.37.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.07). Sonoco Products had a negative net margin of 3.08% and a positive return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. Sonoco Products’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Sonoco Products Company will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -93.91%.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Novare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the 3rd quarter worth $219,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Sonoco Products by 4.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 19,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 5.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,264,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,740,000 after acquiring an additional 66,472 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products during the third quarter worth about $9,599,000. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products during the third quarter worth about $206,000. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sonoco Products Company Profile

Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging manufacturer founded in 1899 and headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. It develops packaging and related services for customers in industries including food, consumer goods, health care and manufacturing. Its products include metal and paper containers, flexible packaging, industrial paper-based packaging and protective packaging. Sonoco also provides packaging-related services, such as supply-chain and graphics management. The company serves customers worldwide through operations in multiple regions, including North America, Europe and Asia.