Brokerages Set Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) Price Target at $40.25

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.25.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SEE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Sealed Air from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sealed Air from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price target on Sealed Air in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sealed Air Stock Up 0.4 %

SEE opened at $29.02 on Friday. Sealed Air has a fifty-two week low of $28.37 and a fifty-two week high of $41.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.40 and its 200 day moving average is $34.33.

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

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Henry R. Keizer bought 1,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $33,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,050,000. This trade represents a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sealed Air

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,330,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $620,117,000 after buying an additional 2,754,395 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Sealed Air by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,316,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081,848 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,788,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $128,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,184 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Sealed Air by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,325,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,678,000 after purchasing an additional 846,882 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,300,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,542,000 after purchasing an additional 12,559 shares in 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.