Analyzing West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) & Cresco Labs (OTCMKTS:CRLBF)

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) and Cresco Labs (OTCMKTS:CRLBF) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for West Pharmaceutical Services and Cresco Labs, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Pharmaceutical Services	0	2	12	0	2.86
Cresco Labs	0	0	1	2	3.67

West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus target price of $391.17, suggesting a potential downside of 0.21%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe West Pharmaceutical Services is more favorable than Cresco Labs.

Volatility & Risk

West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cresco Labs has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.9% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Cresco Labs shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares West Pharmaceutical Services and Cresco Labs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Pharmaceutical Services	16.98%	20.11%	14.83%
Cresco Labs	-15.50%	-7.53%	-1.68%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares West Pharmaceutical Services and Cresco Labs”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Pharmaceutical Services	$3.07 billion	8.97	$493.70 million	$7.81	50.19
Cresco Labs	$655.85 million	0.34	-$135.41 million	($0.30)	-2.00

West Pharmaceutical Services has higher revenue and earnings than Cresco Labs. Cresco Labs is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than West Pharmaceutical Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

West Pharmaceutical Services beats Cresco Labs on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. This segment also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices; and a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. The company serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. It sells and distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, contract sales agents, and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

About Cresco Labs

Cresco Labs Inc., together with its subsidiaries, cultivates, manufactures, and sells retail and medical cannabis products in the United States. It provides cannabis in flowers, vape pens, live resins, disposable pens, and extracts under the Cresco brand; vape carts, vape pens, flower, popcorn, shake, pre-rolls, shorties, and concentrates under the High Supply brand; vapes and gummies under the Good News brand; vapes and edibles under the Wonder Wellness Co. brand; and tinctures, capsules, salves, and sublingual oils under the Remedi brand. The company also offers cannabis flowers under the FloraCal brand; and chocolate and toffee confections and fruit-forward gummies under the Mindy's Edibles brand, as well as licenses the Kiva brand, which produces cannabis infused edibles, including chocolate confections, gummies, mints, and tarts. In addition, the company offers cannabis-infused edibles under the Sunnyside brand. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.