Sonoco Products Company

SON

Packaging & Containers · Consumer Cyclical

Winston Score

Winston is serious

Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 28, 2026

How the score breaks down

Quality

Mixed

Growth

Good

Cash Flow

Good

Stability

Mixed

Valuation

Good

Dividends

Mixed

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Winston Score History

The full picture

Sonoco Products Company makes packaging materials used by businesses around the world. Its main products include industrial tubes and cores (the cardboard cylinders that hold paper, film, and textiles), rigid containers for food and consumer goods, and protective packaging for fragile items. The company sells mostly to manufacturers in industries like food, healthcare, textiles, and paper.

Sonoco earns money by selling packaging products directly to business customers, not to everyday shoppers. It operates globally, with facilities across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and generates roughly $6 billion in annual revenue. Its long-term contracts and the high cost of switching suppliers give it some pricing stability, but its margins are relatively thin and depend heavily on raw material costs like recycled paper and steel. The biggest risk the company faces is rising input costs and slowing industrial demand, which can quickly squeeze profits when the broader economy weakens.

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-1.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

-78.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

Insider Activity

1.3%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$169M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue declining

Sonoco Products Company's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

20.8%

Thin — 20.8% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

10.2%

Modest — 10.2% operating margin

Return on the money invested

ROCE

8.3%

Below par — 8.3% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+31.7%

Fast-growing sales (+31.7% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

+15.9%

Earnings growing fast (+15.9% YoY)

Healthy double-digit earnings growth — what compounders look like.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

4/8 quarters

Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

99%

Turns 99% of profit into real cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

5.4%

Thin free cash flow (5.4%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

1.24

Elevated debt (1.24)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

3.28x

Tight — interest eats into profit (3.3x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

9.2x

no trend

Attractive valuation — P/E 9.2

P/E under 10. The price tag is small relative to last year's profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

-0.5

SLOWING

Earnings expected to fall — forward P/E higher than today

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

3.78%

no trend

Moderate income — 3.78% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+1.9%

no trend

Dividend flat

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