SONSonoco Products Company
Is it safe?
Solid, nothing alarming. Balance sheet to watch, some accounting flags, quality moderate, insiders net buying.
Mixed, watch the balance sheet Altman Z-score, a bankruptcy-risk model from five balance-sheet ratios.
Some accounting flags, worth a closer look Beneish M-score, a forensic model that detects earnings-manipulation patterns (receivables outrunning sales, margins slipping, accrual-heavy profit).
Mixed fundamental signals Piotroski F-score, nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year financial health across profitability, balance sheet and efficiency. 7 to 9 is strong, 0 to 3 weak.
Insiders were net buyers (+$234K, 90 days to Oct 8, 2026). SEC Form 4 filings: officers and directors must report their own trades within two business days.
Investment-grade balance sheet. A rule of thumb on leverage, not a credit rating.
Moderate price swings, typical volatility. Worst drawdown -42% · now 21% below its 52-week high.
Unless marked, from SEC EDGAR, as of Dec 31, 2025.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. Altman sits structurally low for utilities and pipelines; Beneish runs high for fast growers, since sales growth alone lifts it; banks and REITs are excluded.
Can SON take a bad year?
Sonoco Products Company carries $4.47B of net debt at 3.25× EBITDA: a load its earnings can carry.
Net debt · as at Q1 2026 · between two and four years of EBITDA, normal for a stable business
- Net debt / EBITDA
- 3.25×
Net debt / EBITDA · 10.8× a year ago · the load is coming down
- Altman Z-score
- 1.84
Altman Z-score · grey zone, between 1.8 and 3
- Interest cover
- 4.59×
Interest cover · operating profit covers the interest bill, with room to spare
Details›
- Total debtQ1 2026
- $4.69B
- Cash and short-term investments
- $224M
- Net debt
- $4.47B
- EBITDA, trailing twelve months
- $1.37B
- Operating profit, trailing twelve months
- $1.02B
- Debt / equity
- 1.31×
- Total debt / EBITDA
- 3.42×
- Annualised volatilitytwo years of daily moves
- 31%
- Worst drawdown on file
- −42%
- Below its 52-week high
- 21%
Balance sheet from SEC filings; drawdown and volatility from end-of-day closes; Altman Z from the filed statements.
Packaging & Containers
Ranks #5 of 12 by RyuScore