AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Lifted to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $215.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $155.00.

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

AptarGroup Price Performance

NYSE:ATR opened at $165.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.95. AptarGroup has a one year low of $120.36 and a one year high of $169.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.69. The stock has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58.

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

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total value of $500,346.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,857.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.56, for a total transaction of $117,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,956,701.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total value of $500,346.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,857.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,457 shares of company stock worth $7,314,030 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in AptarGroup by 111.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,075,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,394,000 after acquiring an additional 565,511 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 182.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 538,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,315,000 after purchasing an additional 347,800 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in AptarGroup by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after purchasing an additional 212,886 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 519,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,179,000 after buying an additional 138,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in AptarGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,263,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.