AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Trading Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $147.73 and last traded at $147.09. 22,747 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 288,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATR. StockNews.com downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.6 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $151.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its quarterly 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 analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,705,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 412.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 15,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.