Short Interest in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Expands By 6.9%

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 507,500 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the August 31st total of 474,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 274,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In related news, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 1,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.43, for a total transaction of $277,594.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,616.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AptarGroup news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 800 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.56, for a total value of $117,248.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,956,701.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 1,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.43, for a total value of $277,594.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,616.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,457 shares of company stock worth $7,314,030. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 281.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AptarGroup during the second quarter worth $40,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 4,983.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the first quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR opened at $159.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.08. AptarGroup has a twelve month low of $120.36 and a twelve month high of $161.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $910.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AptarGroup will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. This is an increase from AptarGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.63%.

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.