AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.60.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total value of $563,639.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,748.84. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.49, for a total transaction of $1,095,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,606,369.85. This trade represents a 40.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,351 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,514,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 42,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,706,000 after acquiring an additional 6,742 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,207,015 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,132,222,000 after acquiring an additional 58,777 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 22,350 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.5%

ATR stock traded down $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $160.94. The company had a trading volume of 296,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 318,018. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.57. AptarGroup has a 52-week low of $130.85 and a 52-week high of $178.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $894.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.