Lazard Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE - Free Report) by 262.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 270,993 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 196,286 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.19% of Sealed Air worth $9,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,330,381 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $620,117,000 after buying an additional 2,754,395 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,081,848 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,549,184 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,325,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $78,678,000 after buying an additional 846,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Sealed Air by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,204,663 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,583,000 after acquiring an additional 178,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised Sealed Air from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sealed Air from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,050,000. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sealed Air Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of SEE traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $32.29. 723,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,556,163. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.35. Sealed Air Co. has a 1 year low of $22.78 and a 1 year high of $41.14. The firm's fifty day moving average is $28.28 and its 200-day moving average is $32.40.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.14. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 74.21% and a net margin of 7.34%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Sealed Air's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

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.