Sealed Air Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SEE)

Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 85,538 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 8,327% compared to the average daily volume of 1,015 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sealed Air

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SEE. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Sealed Air by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 680,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,126,000 after buying an additional 106,627 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Sealed Air by 43.3% in the second quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 2,287,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,975,000 after acquiring an additional 691,200 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 9.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,053,000 after acquiring an additional 9,052 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 1.9% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,545,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $362,555,000 after acquiring an additional 228,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 43.1% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 519,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,009,000 after acquiring an additional 156,309 shares in the last quarter. 94.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sealed Air Stock Down 0.4%

SEE stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.31. 2,425,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,743,545. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.70. Sealed Air has a 12 month low of $22.78 and a 12 month high of $44.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.35.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Sealed Air had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 54.90%. Sealed Air has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.250-3.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sealed Air will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Sealed Air’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SEE. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $43.80) on shares of Sealed Air in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $40.00) on shares of Sealed Air in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sealed Air from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.83.

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.