SEA (NYSE:SE) Raised to "Buy" at Bank of America

Key Points

• SEA (NYSE:SE) has been upgraded from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating by Bank of America, with a target price increase from $206.00 to $215.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.38%.
• Several other brokerages have also adjusted their ratings on SEA, including Zacks raising it to "strong-buy" and JPMorgan elevating its price target to $230.00.
• As of the latest earnings report, SEA reported a 38.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $5.26 billion, although it fell short of EPS expectations with $0.65 compared to the consensus of $1.03.

SEA (NYSE:SE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $215.00 target price on the Internet company based in Singapore's stock, up from their prior target price of $206.00. Bank of America's price target suggests a potential upside of 31.38% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SE. Zacks Research raised SEA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Arete Research lowered SEA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Macquarie reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $219.90 price objective (up previously from $178.20) on shares of SEA in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on SEA from $208.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Arete lowered SEA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $177.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SEA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.78.

SEA Stock Down 9.4%

Shares of NYSE:SE opened at $163.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.79 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.28. SEA has a 12-month low of $92.50 and a 12-month high of $199.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

SEA (NYSE:SE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The Internet company based in Singapore reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $5.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5 billion. SEA had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 6.23%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that SEA will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEA

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SEA by 241.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of SEA by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of SEA by 10.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,839 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of SEA by 464.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 237 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of SEA by 8.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.53% of the company's stock.

About SEA

Sea Ltd. is an internet and mobile platform company, which engages in the provision of online gaming services. It operates through the following segments: Digital Entertainment, E-Commerce, and Digital Financial Services. The Digital Entertainment segment offers and develops mobile and PC online games.

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