West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $332.50.

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $222.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $263.98 and its 200-day moving average is $297.82. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $396.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. Equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.