Riverwater Partners LLC Makes New $235,000 Investment in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Riverwater Partners LLC bought a new position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in AptarGroup by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,139,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $169,094,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,791 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Puzo Michael J boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Puzo Michael J now owns 74,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,014,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $178.60.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.49, for a total transaction of $1,095,430.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,606,369.85. The trade was a 40.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. The trade was a 7.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Up 0.3%

ATR opened at $150.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.25. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.92 and its 200 day moving average is $152.52. The stock has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $894.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. AptarGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

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.