Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in AptarGroup were worth $9,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 310.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE ATR opened at $145.07 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $150.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.78. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.96 and a 1-year high of $178.03.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

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.