Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 43,903 Shares of Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its stake in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) by 54.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 43,903 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Sealed Air were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sealed Air by 139.4% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Sealed Air by 218.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Sealed Air by 89.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Sealed Air by 148.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. UBS Group upgraded Sealed Air from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sealed Air currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,050,000. This trade represents a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

Shares of SEE opened at $25.96 on Monday. Sealed Air Co. has a 12 month low of $22.78 and a 12 month high of $41.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.67.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.08. Sealed Air had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 74.21%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Sealed Air’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Sealed Air Co. 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Sealed Air’s payout ratio is 44.20%.

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.