SEA (NYSE:SE) Stock Rating Lowered by Arete Research

Key Points

• SEA's stock rating was downgraded by Arete Research from a "strong-buy" to a "hold," reflecting a shift in analysts' outlook.
• Despite the downgrade, several other firms maintain strong ratings for SEA, with the average rating being a "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $173.99.
• SEA reported $5.26 billion in revenue for its latest quarter, exceeding estimates but missed earnings per share expectations by $0.38.

Arete Research cut shares of SEA (NYSE:SE - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on SEA from $200.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SEA from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America downgraded shares of SEA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SEA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of SEA from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.99.

SEA Stock Up 0.3%

SEA stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $191.21. 1,557,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,567,539. SEA has a 1 year low of $76.38 and a 1 year high of $195.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $112.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.07 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.86.

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

Institutional Trading of SEA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its position in SEA by 2,082.7% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 28,766,718 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $3,753,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,448,779 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in SEA by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,777,353 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $623,355,000 after purchasing an additional 354,158 shares during the last quarter. Kontiki Capital Management HK Ltd. lifted its position in SEA by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Kontiki Capital Management HK Ltd. now owns 3,388,516 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $442,167,000 after purchasing an additional 111,400 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in SEA by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,219,713 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $420,140,000 after purchasing an additional 273,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in SEA by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,585,179 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore's stock valued at $337,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,301 shares during the last quarter. 59.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.