Raymond James Financial Reiterates Outperform Rating for AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has lowered its price target for AptarGroup's stock from $182.00 to $172.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 22.86%.
• AptarGroup reported earnings of $1.66 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue increase of 6.1% year-over-year.
• Insiders have sold a significant amount of shares recently, indicating a 13.10% decrease in one executive's position, which may raise concerns among investors.

Raymond James Financial restated their outperform rating on shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $172.00 target price on the industrial products company's stock, down from their prior target price of $182.00.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ATR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.60.

AptarGroup Trading Down 1.2%

ATR opened at $138.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock's fifty day moving average is $154.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.26. The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.57. AptarGroup has a 52 week low of $130.85 and a 52 week high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $966.01 million during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. AptarGroup's payout ratio is presently 30.98%.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $503,646.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 33,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,183,433.06. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total value of $255,312.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,135.52. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,585 shares of company stock valued at $2,418,028 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AptarGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Simplex Trading LLC lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 107.4% during the 1st quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in AptarGroup by 155.0% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in AptarGroup by 281.9% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 164.8% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.