Sealed Air Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SEE)

Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 85,538 call options on the company. This is an increase of 8,327% compared to the typical volume of 1,015 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sealed Air

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Sealed Air by 1.9% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,545,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $362,555,000 after purchasing an additional 228,937 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 31.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,754,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,982 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Sealed Air by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,220,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,963,000 after buying an additional 507,067 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sealed Air by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,437,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,513,000 after buying an additional 1,538,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Sealed Air by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,900,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,513,000 after buying an additional 137,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Sealed Air Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of SEE traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,425,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,743,545. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.37 and its 200 day moving average is $33.70. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Sealed Air has a 1 year low of $22.78 and a 1 year high of $44.27.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.19. Sealed Air had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 54.90%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Sealed Air has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.250-3.350 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sealed Air will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sealed Air Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SEE. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Sealed Air in a report on Friday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $43.80) on shares of Sealed Air in a research report on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sealed Air from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.83.

Sealed Air Company 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.