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

Shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SEE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Sealed Air from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Sealed Air in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Sealed Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Sealed Air from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Trading of Sealed Air

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,703,769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $621,380,000 after buying an additional 600,146 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Sealed Air by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,114,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,985 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $139,800,000. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sealed Air by 7.3% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,500,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $93,014,000 after purchasing an additional 170,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sealed Air by 0.5% in 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 during the period. 94.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SEE opened at $35.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.69 and its 200 day moving average is $35.86. Sealed Air has a 12 month low of $30.87 and a 12 month high of $41.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.34.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 74.21% and a net margin of 7.34%. Sealed Air’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sealed Air will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.41%.

About Sealed Air

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.