Royce & Associates LP Takes $494,000 Position in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SEE. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sealed Air in the third quarter worth approximately $1,497,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 12.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 19,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 67.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 36,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,766 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 45.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,613,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,587,000 after acquiring an additional 502,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 3.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 14,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 94.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sealed Air Price Performance

SEE stock opened at $29.08 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 1.32. Sealed Air Co. has a 12-month low of $28.67 and a 12-month high of $41.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.53.

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

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Insider Activity at Sealed Air

In related news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 $1,050,000. This trade represents a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price objective on Sealed Air in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sealed Air from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sealed Air currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

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.