Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 2,754,395 Shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,330,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,754,395 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.58% of Sealed Air worth $620,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sealed Air by 148.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. A&I Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Sealed Air in the 4th quarter valued at $527,000. Kwmg LLC increased its position in Sealed Air by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 136,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,619,000 after buying an additional 6,527 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 131.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 76,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after buying an additional 43,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sealed Air by 56.6% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,517,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,085,000 after acquiring an additional 548,493 shares during the period. 94.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sealed Air news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,050,000. The trade was a 3.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SEE shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.25.

Sealed Air Trading Down 1.8 %

SEE opened at $29.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.32. 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’s 50 day moving average is $32.64 and its 200-day moving average is $34.39. Sealed Air Co. has a 1-year low of $28.67 and a 1-year high of $41.14.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.08. Sealed Air had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 74.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Sealed Air 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.