Wall Street Zen Upgrades Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Sealed Air has been upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, reflecting positive outlook on the stock.
• Recent target price adjustments from various analysts have seen price objectives increase, with Wells Fargo now targeting $43.00.
• The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for its last quarter, exceeding estimates, although revenue was down 0.7% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Sealed Air in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.27.

Sealed Air Stock Up 2.8%

NYSE SEE traded up $0.81 on Friday, hitting $29.86. 1,102,456 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,572,429. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.33. Sealed Air has a 12 month low of $22.78 and a 12 month high of $38.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.15 and a 200-day moving average of $30.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.18.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Sealed Air had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 60.61%. Sealed Air's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sealed Air will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid 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 payout ratio is currently 40.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sealed Air

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 182.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,736 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,413 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 3,664 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the 4th quarter valued at $16,841,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the 4th quarter valued at $350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.40% of the company's stock.

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.