Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $32.13, but opened at $35.14. Sealed Air shares last traded at $35.44, with a volume of 344,355 shares.

The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Sealed Air had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 74.21%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on SEE shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sealed Air from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SEE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,330,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $620,117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,754,395 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,081,848 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air in the third quarter worth approximately $139,800,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sealed Air by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,788,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,176,000 after buying an additional 1,549,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 846,882 shares during the last quarter. 94.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.29.

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.