AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Raises Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This is a 4.2% increase from AptarGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

AptarGroup has a dividend payout ratio of 29.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect AptarGroup to earn $6.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.3%.

AptarGroup Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE:ATR opened at $130.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.34. AptarGroup has a one year low of $103.23 and a one year high of $146.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.95.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.05. AptarGroup had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AptarGroup will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ATR shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Friday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on AptarGroup in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.14.

AptarGroup Company Profile

AptarGroup, Inc (NYSE: ATR) develops and manufactures dispensing, sealing and delivery systems for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, food and beverage markets. Its products are designed to control, protect and dispense a wide range of liquids, creams, lotions, fragrances and other formulations.

The company’s offerings include pumps, valves, closures, aerosol systems and other dispensing components, as well as drug-delivery technologies. Through its pharmaceutical business, Aptar supports nasal, pulmonary, ophthalmic, dermal and injectable applications, serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with components and systems used in prescription, over-the-counter and consumer health products.

Aptar serves customers internationally through manufacturing, research and development and commercial operations across North America, Europe, Asia and other global markets.