AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Short Interest Up 6.9% in September

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.56, for a total transaction of $117,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,956,701.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.56, for a total transaction of $117,248.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,956,701.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total value of $4,721,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,692,852.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,457 shares of company stock worth $7,314,030 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 58,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,110 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in AptarGroup by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 109,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,482,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 26,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 29,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in AptarGroup by 3,141.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 109,983 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,596,000 after purchasing an additional 106,590 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $159.97 on Wednesday. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $120.36 and a 12-month high of $161.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $910.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $930.15 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 9.00% and a return on equity of 15.13%. AptarGroup’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th were given a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from AptarGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.63%.

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.