Zacks Research Research Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst I. Bandyopadhyay now expects that the medical instruments supplier will post earnings of $1.30 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.38. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services’ current full-year earnings is $7.63 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services’ FY2024 earnings at $7.55 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.86 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.01 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.16 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.99 EPS.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WST. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $379.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.16, a PEG ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $363.91. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,466 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 957 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 10.15%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.