Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.42.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SEE shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price objective on Sealed Air in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised Sealed Air from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th.

Sealed Air Price Performance

SEE stock opened at $26.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.27. Sealed Air has a one year low of $22.78 and a one year high of $41.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.35.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. Sealed Air had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 74.21%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sealed Air will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Insider Activity at Sealed Air

In other Sealed Air news, Director Henry R. Keizer bought 1,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,050,000. The trade was a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sealed Air

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SEE. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sealed Air by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. A&I Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air in the 4th quarter worth $527,000. Kwmg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 136,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,619,000 after purchasing an additional 6,527 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Sealed Air by 131.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 76,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 43,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Sealed Air by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,510,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,101,000 after purchasing an additional 715,668 shares during the last quarter. 94.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sealed Air Company Profile

Sealed Air Corporation provides packaging solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates through two segments, Food and Protective. The Food segment offers integrated packaging materials and automation equipment solutions to provide food safety, shelf life extension, reduce food waste, automate processes, and optimize total cost for food processors in the fresh red meat, smoked and processed meats, poultry, seafood, plant-based, fluids and liquids and cheese markets under the CRYOVAC, CRYOVAC Grip & Tear, CRYOVAC Darfresh, LIQUIBOX, Simple Steps, and Optidure brands.