Cerity Partners LLC Sells 1,751 Shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,751 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Sealed Air were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in Sealed Air by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 30,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 420,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,239,000 after purchasing an additional 113,508 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Sealed Air by 618.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 747,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,287,000 after buying an additional 643,489 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Sealed Air by 168.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 466,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,791,000 after buying an additional 292,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sealed Air by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 6,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

Shares of SEE opened at $26.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.35. Sealed Air Co. has a twelve month low of $22.78 and a twelve month high of $41.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.33.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Sealed Air had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 74.21%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Sealed Air’s payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Insider Activity at Sealed Air

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SEE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price objective on Sealed Air in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.42.

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.