Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 7,003 Shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) by 49.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,003 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Sealed Air were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Sealed Air during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,497,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in Sealed Air by 1.4% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,856,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,571,000 after acquiring an additional 24,940 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Sealed Air during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,098,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Sealed Air by 67.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 36,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Sealed Air in the second quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Sealed Air Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of SEE stock opened at $36.43 on Friday. Sealed Air Co. has a 12-month low of $30.87 and a 12-month high of $41.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.77. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.12. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 74.21% and a net margin of 7.34%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Sealed Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Sealed Air from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Sealed Air from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

Sealed Air 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.