Head-To-Head Analysis: AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) & Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP)

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) and AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Ardagh Metal Packaging and AptarGroup, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ardagh Metal Packaging	0	6	1	0	2.14
AptarGroup	0	3	5	0	2.62

Ardagh Metal Packaging presently has a consensus target price of $4.92, indicating a potential upside of 1.48%. AptarGroup has a consensus target price of $172.80, indicating a potential upside of 38.24%. Given AptarGroup’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AptarGroup is more favorable than Ardagh Metal Packaging.

Dividends

Ardagh Metal Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. AptarGroup pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ardagh Metal Packaging pays out 666.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AptarGroup pays out 34.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AptarGroup has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.9% of Ardagh Metal Packaging shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of AptarGroup shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Ardagh Metal Packaging shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of AptarGroup shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Ardagh Metal Packaging has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AptarGroup has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ardagh Metal Packaging and AptarGroup’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ardagh Metal Packaging	0.68%	-27.93%	3.09%
AptarGroup	9.22%	13.31%	6.96%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ardagh Metal Packaging and AptarGroup”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ardagh Metal Packaging	$5.50 billion	0.53	$11.00 million	$0.06	80.75
AptarGroup	$3.78 billion	2.10	$392.79 million	$5.53	22.60

AptarGroup has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ardagh Metal Packaging. AptarGroup is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ardagh Metal Packaging, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

AptarGroup beats Ardagh Metal Packaging on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ardagh Metal Packaging

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A., together with its subsidiaries, supplies consumer metal beverage cans in Europe, the United States, and Brazil. Its products are used in various end-use categories, including beer, carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, hard seltzers, juices, pre-mixed cocktails, teas, sparkling waters, and wine. The company serves beverage producers. Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. is a subsidiary of Ardagh Group S.A.

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. It also provides pumps for nasal allergy treatments; and metered dose inhaler valves for respiratory ailments, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; elastomer for injectable primary packaging components; and active material science solutions. In addition, the company offers dispensing pumps, closures, elastomeric components, and aerosol valves to the digital health solutions. It primarily sells its products and services in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. AptarGroup, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois.