AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Rating Increased 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 report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $215.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $155.00.

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

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of ATR opened at $167.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $152.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.39. AptarGroup has a 52-week low of $120.36 and a 52-week high of $167.76.

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

AptarGroup declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total transaction of $209,742.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,672.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,672.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at $25,692,852.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,457 shares of company stock valued at $7,314,030. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $367,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 30,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at $313,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in AptarGroup in the first quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

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.