AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $178.60.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 target price (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

AptarGroup Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of ATR opened at $157.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. AptarGroup has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.24.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total value of $151,657.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,798.42. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. This trade represents a 7.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,095 shares of company stock worth $4,565,770 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplex Trading LLC raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 107.4% in the first quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in AptarGroup in the first quarter worth $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 155.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 281.9% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

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.