West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.31 per share for the quarter. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY24 guidance at $7.50-7.75 EPS.Parties interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect West Pharmaceutical Services to post $8 EPS for the current fiscal year and $9 EPS for the next fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST opened at $377.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a PE ratio of 47.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $379.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $364.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 64,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.85, for a total transaction of $23,077,900.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,023,943.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WST. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 147 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.20.

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.