AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Rating Increased to Outperform at William Blair

William Blair upgraded shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

ATR has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday.

AptarGroup Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE ATR opened at $146.38 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.30. AptarGroup has a twelve month low of $111.63 and a twelve month high of $148.51. The stock has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $838.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $842.50 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.83%. AptarGroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AptarGroup will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is presently 35.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total transaction of $499,940.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,426 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,569.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total value of $499,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,774,569.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total value of $4,533,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,024 shares in the company, valued at $22,528,930.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,318,280 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATR. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 191.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 10,437 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,438,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $177,820,000 after purchasing an additional 21,545 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 93.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 22,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 10,796 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,371,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,447,000 after buying an additional 225,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,102,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently 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.