Short Interest in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) Decreases By 24.9%

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,990,000 shares, a decrease of 24.9% from the March 15th total of 7,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Sealed Air Trading Up 3.6 %

Sealed Air stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.76. 2,127,654 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,538,019. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $29.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 1.35. Sealed Air has a 52-week low of $22.78 and a 52-week high of $41.14.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sealed Air will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Sealed Air's payout ratio is currently 44.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sealed Air news, Director Henry R. Keizer acquired 1,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.00 per share, with a total value of $33,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,050,000. This represents a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sealed Air

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Sealed Air by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 82,738 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 4,623 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sealed Air by 7.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 3,664 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sealed Air by 200.0% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,734,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Sealed Air in the first quarter worth $657,000. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 7.7% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 45,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 3,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SEE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price target on shares of Sealed Air in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.00.

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.