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

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $181.60.

ATR has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:ATR opened at $145.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.59. AptarGroup has a twelve month low of $135.96 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $154.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.02. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ATR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth $116,265,000. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $108,239,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $389,854,000 after acquiring an additional 617,365 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after acquiring an additional 479,193 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in AptarGroup by 297.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 473,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,312,000 after acquiring an additional 353,935 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.