Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) Shares Gap Up to $32.66

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $32.66, but opened at $33.90. Sealed Air shares last traded at $33.55, with a volume of 268,673 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SEE. Wolfe Research began 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 upgraded shares of Sealed Air from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sealed Air from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.18.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.28.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.26. Sealed Air had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 107.48%. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sealed Air's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sealed Air Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Sealed Air's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its holdings in Sealed Air by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 306,245 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,392,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 65,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 14,467 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,036,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $37,861,000 after purchasing an additional 471,289 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 25,450 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 12,408 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the fourth quarter worth approximately $118,000. 94.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.