SEA (NYSE:SE) Stock Lifted to "Buy" by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded SEA to “Buy” from “Hold.” The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average analyst price target of $149.40.
• SEA shares opened at $74.47, near their one-year low of $74.12 and down substantially from the one-year high of $164.03. The company’s latest revenue rose 48.3% year over year to $7.79 billion, although earnings per share missed estimates.
• Insiders sold roughly 2.1 million shares worth $255.2 million over the past three months, while institutional investors own 59.53% of the stock.

SEA (NYSE:SE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SE. Zacks Research raised SEA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of SEA in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of SEA in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of SEA in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised SEA from a "sector perform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.40.

SEA Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of SE opened at $74.47 on Friday. SEA has a one year low of $74.12 and a one year high of $164.03. The company has a market cap of $45.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.41.

SEA (NYSE:SE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The Internet company based in Singapore reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.16). SEA had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 5.98%. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 48.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that SEA will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SEA

In related news, CFO Tianyu Hou sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total transaction of $890,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,116,050. The trade was a 22.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Yanjun Wang sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.33, for a total value of $61,064.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,677,425.40. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,099,986 shares of company stock worth $255,172,982. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SE. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new position in SEA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $140,501,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in SEA by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 879,107 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock worth $84,245,000 after acquiring an additional 50,965 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion grew its holdings in SEA by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 651,818 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock worth $62,349,000 after acquiring an additional 14,242 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in SEA by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,437 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $58,019,000 after acquiring an additional 54,819 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in SEA by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,692 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $54,881,000 after acquiring an additional 251,517 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.53% of the company's stock.

About SEA

Sea Limited is a Singapore-based global technology company founded in 2009. Formerly known as Garena, the company operates digital businesses serving consumers and merchants primarily in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and selected markets in Latin America and other regions.

Through Shopee, Sea's e-commerce platform, the company provides online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers and offer supporting services such as payments, logistics and merchant tools. Garena, its digital entertainment business, develops and publishes online games and distributes third-party titles, while also operating digital entertainment platforms and services.

SeaMoney is the company's digital financial services division.

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