Share Repurchase Plan Declared by West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Board of Directors

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $243.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 2.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $260.12 and a 200-day moving average of $261.81. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $322.34. The company has a market cap of $17.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.18.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $805.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.70 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 16.06%.West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.