AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Stock Price Down 1.4% – Here’s Why

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $147.94 and last traded at $148.47. 54,362 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 381,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $151.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. Equities research analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,207,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,132,222,000 after acquiring an additional 58,777 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,919,000 after purchasing an additional 14,001 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $248,570,000 after purchasing an additional 40,268 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AptarGroup

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.