AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Stock Has Average Price Target of $164.14

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Five of eight covering firms rate AptarGroup a buy, while three recommend hold; the average one-year price target is $164.14.
• AptarGroup reported quarterly EPS of $1.52, beating the $1.47 consensus, and revenue of $1.02 billion, up 6% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.48 to $0.50 per share, equivalent to $2.00 annually and a 1.4% yield.

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $164.14.

ATR has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AptarGroup from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank started coverage on AptarGroup in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Monday, September 21st. UBS Group started coverage on AptarGroup in a report on Friday, October 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 765 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $99,733.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,430,425.81. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gael Touya sold 3,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total transaction of $500,262.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 29,102 shares in the company, valued at $3,892,683.52. This represents a 11.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at $768,464,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 15.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,504,473 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $189,581,000 after purchasing an additional 203,672 shares during the last quarter. Atlas FRM LLC bought a new stake in AptarGroup in the second quarter valued at about $83,884,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 42.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 538,554 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,868,000 after purchasing an additional 160,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 7.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 485,718 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $61,210,000 after buying an additional 32,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $142.76 on Thursday. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $110.95 and a 1-year high of $148.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $127.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.77. The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.05. AptarGroup had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 13.11%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. AptarGroup's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that AptarGroup will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from AptarGroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

About AptarGroup

AptarGroup is a global provider of dispensing, packaging and drug-delivery solutions. Its products include pumps, aerosol valves, sprayers, closures and other components used to package and dispense products. The company serves customers in the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, food and beverage markets. Its pharmaceutical offerings include systems and components for delivering medicines through nasal, inhaled, ophthalmic and injectable applications, while its packaging solutions help consumer brands dispense and protect products.

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