Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 328.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 703,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,490,000 after buying an additional 27,614 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in AptarGroup by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 51,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,118,000 after acquiring an additional 13,827 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in AptarGroup by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth $236,000. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its position in AptarGroup by 147.6% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ATR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.60.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ATR stock opened at $146.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.05. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.96 and a 1-year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. On average, analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.49%.

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.