AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) to Issue $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

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

AptarGroup has raised its dividend 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 dividend payout ratio of 27.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $157.23 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.75. The company has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.59. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $128.05 and a 12-month high of $178.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ATR. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James began coverage on AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

AptarGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.