South Carolina-based Sonoco ranks 5th on the list of 10 best papers stocks to buy now.
In August 2020, Sonoco shared rallied after the company bought France-based sustainable paper packaging company Can Packaging for €41.7 million. In the third quarter, Sonoco posted an adjusted EPS of $0.86 beating the Wall Street’s estimates by $0.04. Revenue in the quarter totaled $1.31 billion, missing the consensus estimate by $10 million.
Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management is one of the leading shareholders of Sonoco as of the end of the third quarter, with 477,000 shares of the company, worth $24.4 million.
Founded in 1898, Memphis, Tennessee-based International Paper operates various segments related to paper and packaging products, including industrial packaging, global cellulose fibers and printing papers. The company also makes containerboards, which include linerboard, medium, whitetop, recycled linerboard, recycled medium, and saturating kraft. In October 2020, BMO Capital gave bullish ratings for International Paper on the back of improved pricing trends and better-than-anticipated demand growth. In the third quarter, the company posted an EPS of $0.71 above the consensus estimate by $0.22.
Of the 816 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 32 held stakes in International Paper entering the fourth quarter.
Atlanta, Georgia-based WestRock was formed in 2015 as a result of the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn. It is now of the biggest packaging and paper companies, with $15 billion in annual revenue. In October 2020, BofA recommended investors to buy WestRock shares, citing a huge demand in ecommerce packaging, especially after the pandemic.
In the fiscal fourth quarter, WestRock posted a non-GAAP EPS of $0.73, above the Street’s estimate by $0.06. Revenue in the quarter came in at $4.47 billion, beating the consensus estimate by $100 million.
Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital is one of the 32 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey who reported having stakes in WestRock at the end of the third quarter. The fund owns 2.95 million shares of the company.
Seattle-based Weyerhaeuser is a major paper and pulp company, with about 12.4 million acres of timberlands in the country. The company also has about 14 million timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. In December 2016, the company completed the sale of Cellulose Fibers pulp mills to International Paper for $2.2 billion in cash.
Hedge funds are loading up on Weyerhaeuser. A total of 41 hedge funds ended the third quarter with positions in the company, significantly up from 33 hedge funds in the previous quarter. The total worth of these stakes is $476.8 million. Here is what Third Avenue said about WY in its 2020 Q3 investor letter:
“Third Avenue has long championed enterprises with sound business practices run by aligned control groups that exhibit strong stewardship. Within Third Avenue’s real estate strategy, this oftentimes leads the Fund to “pass” on investments in companies with uncertain environmental liabilities, business models that could be deemed predatory, and corporate governance structures that are stacked against key stakeholders. Consequently, the select-set of real estate and real estate-related business that make it into the Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund represent some of the true industry leaders in respect to their ESG practices, including Weyerhaeuser, that own more than 16 million acres of timberlands and sequester more carbon than any other privately-held enterprises globally (to our knowledge)— an underappreciated attribute that may ultimately have incremental value through a carbon-credit initiative or even strategic value for larger enterprises seeking to offset emissions.”
Texas-based Kimberly-Clark sells paper-based consumer products, such as sanitary products, tissues, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, wipes and diapers. In the third quarter, Kimberly’s organic sales increased by 3%, above the Street’s estimate of 1.8%. The company upped its full-year outlook, now expecting adjusted earnings growth of 9%-11%.
As of the end of the third quarter, 41 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Kimberly. The net worth of these investments is $1.51 billion. Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital owns 1.9 million shares of the company, worth over $275 million.
Kimberly-Clark stock is down 9% over the past 12 months.
Please also see 10 Best Packaging Stocks To Buy Now and 15 Beaten Down Stocks To Buy.
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