AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Short Interest Up 25.0% in February

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 756,500 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the February 13th total of 605,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 358,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after buying an additional 5,248 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 43.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,182,000 after acquiring an additional 34,573 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 43.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,066,000 after acquiring an additional 12,271 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AptarGroup by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,444,000 after purchasing an additional 83,452 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 282.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,024 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.8 %

AptarGroup stock traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $147.83. The stock had a trading volume of 225,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 289,470. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.04. AptarGroup has a one year low of $135.96 and a one year high of $178.03.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

AptarGroup Company 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.