AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Given Outperform Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James reiterated their outperform rating on shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $190.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $200.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ATR. Dbs Bank raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

NYSE:ATR opened at $143.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.05. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $134.57 and a 1-year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.62%. Equities research analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 13.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,422 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 79.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 92.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 446.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 4.3% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.