Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 188,660 Shares of Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Sealed Air Corporation by 35.7%, selling 188,660 shares to own 339,708 shares worth approximately $9.8 million.
• Sealed Air announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share to be paid on September 26th, representing a 2.7% yield with a payout ratio of 39.6%.
• Analysts have updated their price targets for Sealed Air, with four giving it a hold rating and six a buy rating, reflecting an average target price of $38.27.

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE - Free Report) by 35.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 339,708 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 188,660 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.23% of Sealed Air worth $9,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 69.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 9.6% during the fourth 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sealed Air by 42.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,864,927 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,796,000 after purchasing an additional 849,485 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Sealed Air by 618.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 747,468 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,287,000 after acquiring an additional 643,489 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sealed Air in the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,841,000. 94.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SEE. Citigroup increased their price objective on Sealed Air from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Sealed Air from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Sealed Air from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Sealed Air in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.27.

Sealed Air Stock Down 0.8%

SEE stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.31. 469,145 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,571,662. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $31.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.18. Sealed Air Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.78 and a 52 week high of $38.85.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.17. Sealed Air had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 60.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sealed Air Corporation will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Sealed Air's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.40%.

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.