AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 816,900 shares, a decline of 15.3% from the April 30th total of 964,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 353,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ATR shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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 reiterated 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of ATR traded up $1.99 on Thursday, reaching $152.40. The stock had a trading volume of 482,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,996. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.97. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $130.85 and a 12-month high of $178.03.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,687,686.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total value of $151,657.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,798.42. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,709 shares of company stock valued at $6,224,840. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AptarGroup by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake 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 raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

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.