AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Dbs Bank

Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $190.00.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of AptarGroup stock traded up $0.63 on Wednesday, hitting $168.52. The stock had a trading volume of 171,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 290,823. AptarGroup has a twelve month low of $120.36 and a twelve month high of $169.65. The business's 50 day moving average is $154.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 9.00%. The company had revenue of $910.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $930.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,430,672.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total value of $4,721,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,692,852.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,672.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,457 shares of company stock valued at $7,314,030 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATR. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 565,511 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 182.1% during the 3rd 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. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 35.9% in the second 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 period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 36.2% in the second 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 purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the second quarter worth $17,263,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.