West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) to Post Q1 2023 Earnings of $1.81 Per Share, Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) – Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group issued their Q1 2023 earnings estimates for shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst D. Windley forecasts that the medical instruments supplier will post earnings of $1.81 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services’ current full-year earnings is $8.18 per share. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services’ Q2 2023 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $2.05 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $8.92 EPS.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $686.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.64 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 21.68%.

WST has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $385.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Friday, October 28th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.25.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $258.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.80 and a quick ratio of 2.89. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $206.19 and a 1 year high of $424.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $238.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.35.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 24th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 9.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.99, for a total transaction of $10,515,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 114,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,465,208.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WST. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 103.6% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth $29,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 70.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 123 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following business segments: Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers proprietary packaging, containment and drug delivery products, along with analytical lab services, to biologic, generic and pharmaceutical drug customers.