Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) by 49.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 57,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,973 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Sealed Air were worth $1,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Sealed Air by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sealed Air by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 43,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sealed Air by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 19,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in Sealed Air in the fourth quarter worth $494,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sealed Air by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 528,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,875,000 after acquiring an additional 58,273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Sealed Air Stock Performance

Sealed Air stock opened at $29.59 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.32. Sealed Air Co. has a 1-year low of $28.67 and a 1-year high of $41.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.75 and a 200-day moving average of $34.40.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 74.21% and a net margin of 7.34%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sealed Air Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Sealed Air’s payout ratio is currently 44.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $36.00 price objective on Sealed Air in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Sealed Air from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sealed Air from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Henry R. Keizer purchased 1,120 shares of Sealed Air stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,050,000. This represents a 3.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.