Brokerages Set AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) PT at $181.60

Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $181.60.

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

AptarGroup Stock Performance

AptarGroup stock opened at $147.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. AptarGroup has a one year low of $135.96 and a one year high of $178.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AptarGroup will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in AptarGroup by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.