AlphaQuest LLC Lowers Holdings in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its holdings in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE - Free Report) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,670 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 8,968 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Sealed Air were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sealed Air during the third quarter worth $139,800,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Sealed Air by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,325,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $78,678,000 after buying an additional 846,882 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sealed Air by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,300,809 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,542,000 after buying an additional 12,559 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sealed Air by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,015,442 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $68,182,000 after buying an additional 920,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sealed Air by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,646,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,716,000 after purchasing an additional 32,976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.40% of the company's stock.

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Sealed Air Trading Up 1.0 %

Sealed Air stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.85. 1,252,096 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,401,093. Sealed Air Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.33 and a fifty-two week high of $41.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $33.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sealed Air's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Sealed Air's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sealed Air

In related news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,050,000. The trade was a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SEE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Sealed Air in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.25.

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.