Nuance Investments LLC Buys 59,088 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Key Points

• Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. by 69% to a total of 144,710 shares, now making up about 1.4% of their portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Victory Capital Management and Northern Trust Corp, also raised their stakes in AptarGroup during the first quarter, highlighting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• AptarGroup announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, demonstrating the company's commitment to returning cash to shareholders.

Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 69.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,710 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 59,088 shares during the quarter. AptarGroup comprises approximately 1.4% of Nuance Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.22% of AptarGroup worth $21,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in AptarGroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $21,549,000. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 93.2% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 6,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 212,122 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,475,000 after acquiring an additional 11,551 shares during the period. Simplex Trading LLC lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 107.4% in the 1st quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,325,000. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ATR. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $172.00 price target (down previously from $182.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $153.00 price target (down previously from $173.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.60.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of ATR traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $138.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 770,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,809. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.85 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $966.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.06 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total value of $255,312.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,135.52. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 owned 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,971 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,388. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AptarGroup 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.