Short Interest in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Increases By 25.0%

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 756,500 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the February 13th total of 605,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 358,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,207,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,132,222,000 after purchasing an additional 58,777 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,919,000 after purchasing an additional 14,001 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $248,570,000 after purchasing an additional 40,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,208,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $189,895,000 after purchasing an additional 50,651 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $146.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.96. AptarGroup has a 52-week low of $135.96 and a 52-week high of $178.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 32.49%.

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.