Bank of Nova Scotia Lowers Holdings in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) by 54.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 43,903 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Sealed Air were worth $1,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Sealed Air by 218.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sealed Air during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sealed Air by 148.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Sealed Air by 89.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised Sealed Air from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sealed Air currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.25.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

Sealed Air stock opened at $25.96 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Sealed Air Co. has a 1-year low of $22.78 and a 1-year high of $41.14.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sealed Air

In related news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of Sealed Air stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $33,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.