Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $32.10, but opened at $35.00. Sealed Air shares last traded at $34.41, with a volume of 685,556 shares.

The industrial products company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 94.93% and a net margin of 6.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SEE. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Sealed Air in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial raised shares of Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Sealed Air from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sealed Air currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sealed Air

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Sealed Air during the 3rd quarter worth $895,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Sealed Air in the fourth quarter worth about $2,965,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Sealed Air by 66.3% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 250,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,218,000 after buying an additional 99,700 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sealed Air by 45.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 527,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,348,000 after buying an additional 165,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sealed Air by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,853,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $553,809,000 after buying an additional 92,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Sealed Air Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.49.

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.