AptarGroup, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 (NYSE:ATR)

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%.

AptarGroup has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. AptarGroup has a payout ratio of 27.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect AptarGroup to earn $5.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.3%.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATR traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $159.67. The stock had a trading volume of 149,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,587. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $163.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.89. AptarGroup has a fifty-two week low of $128.05 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.60, for a total transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,530,412.80. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James initiated coverage on AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

AptarGroup announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AptarGroup Company Profile

AptarGroup, Inc designs and manufactures a range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing, and active material science solutions and services for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home care, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures segments.