AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Receives $181.60 Average Price Target from Brokerages

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $181.60.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded 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.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AptarGroup stock opened at $143.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. AptarGroup has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.16.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AptarGroup

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 16,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,621,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,906,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

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.