SEA (NYSE:SE) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

SEA (NYSE:SE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SE. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of SEA from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of SEA in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SEA from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Arete Research set a $152.00 target price on shares of SEA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of SEA in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.40.

SEA Stock Performance

Shares of SEA stock opened at $74.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.26 and a 200 day moving average of $98.53. SEA has a 12 month low of $74.12 and a 12 month high of $164.03.

SEA (NYSE:SE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The Internet company based in Singapore reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. SEA had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 5.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SEA will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other SEA news, CFO Tianyu Hou sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total value of $890,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,116,050. This trade represents a 22.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Yanjun Wang sold 800 shares of SEA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.33, for a total value of $61,064.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 74,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,677,425.40. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,078,786 shares of company stock worth $252,974,286. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SEA

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in SEA by 21.5% in the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 116,811 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock worth $11,406,000 after acquiring an additional 20,680 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in SEA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,612,000. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SEA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,191,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its position in shares of SEA by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 283,921 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock valued at $27,644,000 after purchasing an additional 17,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in shares of SEA by 61.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 26,534 shares of the Internet company based in Singapore’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 10,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.53% of the company’s stock.

About SEA

Sea Limited is a Singapore-based global technology company founded in 2009. Formerly known as Garena, the company operates digital businesses serving consumers and merchants primarily in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and selected markets in Latin America and other regions.

Through Shopee, Sea’s e-commerce platform, the company provides online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers and offer supporting services such as payments, logistics and merchant tools. Garena, its digital entertainment business, develops and publishes online games and distributes third-party titles, while also operating digital entertainment platforms and services.

SeaMoney is the company’s digital financial services division.