AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $161.66 and last traded at $161.66, with a volume of 91124 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $159.22.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $152.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. AptarGroup had a net margin of 9.00% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The firm had revenue of $910.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $930.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total transaction of $209,742.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,672.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total transaction of $4,721,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,692,852.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total transaction of $209,742.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,672.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,457 shares of company stock worth $7,314,030. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATR. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter worth $367,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 30,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $313,000. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,038,000. Hedge funds and other 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.