AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Short Interest Up 6.9% in September

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 507,500 shares, a growth of 6.9% from the August 31st total of 474,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 274,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AptarGroup from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th.

AptarGroup Stock Up 0.2 %

ATR traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $160.19. The company had a trading volume of 289,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,080. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $120.36 and a 1-year high of $161.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $149.58 and a 200-day moving average of $145.95.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $910.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $930.15 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 9.00%. AptarGroup’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. This is a positive change from AptarGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 38.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total transaction of $500,346.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,857.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 1,922 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.43, for a total transaction of $277,594.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,839 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,616.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total transaction of $500,346.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,857.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,457 shares of company stock worth $7,314,030 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in AptarGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in AptarGroup by 281.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 4,983.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the first quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.