AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.60.

ATR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 cut shares of 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.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $146.83 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $149.69 and its 200-day moving average is $158.61. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $135.96 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. Equities research analysts predict that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in AptarGroup by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.