AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.60.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of ATR opened at $152.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.52. AptarGroup has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The company’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, sell-side analysts predict that AptarGroup will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,687,686.04. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total transaction of $151,657.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,798.42. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,095 shares of company stock valued at $4,565,770. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $116,265,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 297.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 473,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,312,000 after purchasing an additional 353,935 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,219,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $329,284,000 after purchasing an additional 247,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 767,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,902,000 after purchasing an additional 222,577 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.