AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 on February 26th

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th.

AptarGroup has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. AptarGroup has a payout ratio of 27.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect AptarGroup to earn $5.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.3%.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of ATR stock opened at $157.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.75. AptarGroup has a 52 week low of $128.05 and a 52 week high of $178.03. The company has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ATR shares. Raymond James started coverage on AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,324,977.84. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.