AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Shares Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) shares dropped 1.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $147.94 and last traded at $148.47. Approximately 54,362 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 381,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 15.56%. On average, research analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 32.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 312.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. 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.