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

Shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.30.

SEE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sealed Air from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Sealed Air in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Sealed Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $47.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SEE opened at $34.48 on Friday. Sealed Air has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $41.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.53 and a 200-day moving average of $35.35.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.19. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 85.65% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sealed Air will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sealed Air

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 4.6% in the first quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 7,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 3.5% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 1.3% in the second quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 7.2% in the third quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 9.1% in the second quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 7,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

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.