Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,980,000 shares, a growth of 31.0% from the February 28th total of 6,090,000 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Sealed Air Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SEE stock traded down $0.11 on Monday, hitting $28.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,041,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,984. Sealed Air has a one year low of $28.39 and a one year high of $41.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.36. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. Sealed Air had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 74.21%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Sealed Air will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Sealed Air from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Sealed Air from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.25.

Insider Activity at Sealed Air

In related news, Director Henry R. Keizer acquired 1,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $33,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,050,000. This represents a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SEE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Sealed Air by 168.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 466,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,791,000 after purchasing an additional 292,826 shares during the last quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sealed Air in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,565,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sealed Air during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Sealed Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. 94.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.