AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Buy" by the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $178.60.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. The trade was a 7.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.49, for a total value of $1,095,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,606,369.85. The trade was a 40.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,709 shares of company stock worth $6,224,840 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AptarGroup

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,906,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 10,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,725,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:ATR traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $153.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 264,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,014. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $150.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.87. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $130.85 and a 12-month high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

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.