Now for context on the magnitude of the inflation, in our materials businesses alone, we will be exiting this year with annualized inflation of more than $600 million.
That's a nearly 20% increase; a rate we have not seen in decades.
The segment grew 22% on a constant currency basis and 14% organically, driven by strength in both high-value product categories, as well as the core Apparel business.
Intelligent Labels sales, enterprisewide, were up 15% in the quarter and we are on track for approximately 30% organic growth for the year versus 2020 and 40% versus 2019, toward the higher end of our long-term target.
In the Industrial and Healthcare Materials segment, sales continue to rebound off prior year lows and were up relative to 2019 by 11% on a constant currency basis.
We now anticipate an earnings growth of roughly 25% over last year's record and are on track to achieve all of our five-year companywide goals that we established in early 2017.
We delivered another strong quarter with adjusted earnings per share of $2.14, up 12% over prior year, and up 29% compared to 2019, driven by significant revenue growth and strong margins.
Sales were up 17% ex-currency and 14% on an organic basis compared to prior year, driven by strong volume across the portfolio and higher prices.
We also delivered strong growth compared to 2019 with organic sales up 10% versus two years ago.
Despite the impact of inflation, supply chain disruptions, and the headwind of last year's temporary cost reduction actions, we delivered a strong adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.4%, down 70 basis points from last year and up 120 basis points compared to 2019.
Year-to-date, we've generated $639 million of free cash flow, up over [Phonetic] $251 million in the third quarter.
And we closed the Vestcom acquisition in the quarter for a total purchase price of roughly $1.45 billion.
To fund the acquisition, we used the net proceeds from an $800 million senior note offering in August, along with cash in commercial paper.
Additionally, in the first three quarters of the year, we returned a total of $290 million in cash to shareholders, through $164 million in dividends and the repurchase of over 700,000 shares at an aggregate cost of $126 million.
Our balance sheet continues to be strong with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.3 at quarter end, at the bottom end of our long-term target leverage range.
Label and Graphic Materials sales were up 15% ex-currency and 14% on an organic basis, driven by strong volume and roughly 5 points from higher prices.
Compared to 2019, sales were up 11% on an organic basis.
Label and Packaging Materials sales were up roughly 15% organically, with strong volume growth in both the high-value product categories and the base business.
Graphics and Reflective sales were up 11% organically.
Western Europe grew more than 20%, partially due to easier comps, given the impact of the pandemic we saw in Q3 last year.
While LGM's profitability remained strong, adjusted EBITDA margin decreased from last year to 15.9%.
This pricing impact led to a reduction in operating margin by roughly 0.75% [Phonetic] in the third quarter.
RBIS sales were up 22% ex-currency and 14% on an organic basis as growth remained strong in both the high-value categories and the base business due, in part, to lower prior year comps.
Compared to 2019, organic growth was up 9%.
As Mitch mentioned, Intelligent Labels sales were up organically, roughly 15% and up about 40% compared to 2019.
Adjusted operating margin for the segment increased to 13.8% as the benefits from higher volume and productivity more than offset the headwinds from prior year temporary cost reduction actions, higher employee-related costs, and growth investments.
Sales increased 20% ex-currency and 15% on an organic basis, reflecting strong growth in both the Industrial and Healthcare categories.
Compared to 2019, sales were up 6% on an organic basis.
Adjusted operating margin decreased to roughly 10% as the benefit from higher volume was more than offset by the net impact of pricing, higher freight and raw material costs and higher employee-related cost.
We have raised our guidance for adjusted earnings per share to be between $8.80 and $8.95, a roughly $0.08 increase to the midpoint of the range.
And we now anticipate roughly 15% organic sales growth for the full year, at the high end of our previous range reflecting strong volume growth and the impact from higher prices.
In particular, the impact of the extra week in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the resulting calendar shift will be a headwind to reported sales growth of roughly 8 points in the fourth quarter of this year, with a roughly $0.30 earnings per share headwind.
The anticipated tailwind from currency translation is now $30 million in operating income for the full year, based on current rates.
And we expect a modest earnings per share benefit from Vestcom in 2021, net of purchase accounting amortization, which we estimate to be nearly $60 million on an annualized basis and net of financing costs.
[Technical Issues] target over $700 million of free cash flow this year, up significantly from previous years.

Summary:
We delivered another strong quarter with adjusted earnings per share of $2.14, up 12% over prior year, and up 29% compared to 2019, driven by significant revenue growth and strong margins.
We have raised our guidance for adjusted earnings per share to be between $8.80 and $8.95, a roughly $0.08 increase to the midpoint of the range.