West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.21 (NYSE:WST)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.21 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th.

West Pharmaceutical Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.4% per year over the last three years. West Pharmaceutical Services has a dividend payout ratio of 9.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect West Pharmaceutical Services to earn $7.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.2%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST traded down $3.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $340.07. The stock had a trading volume of 410,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,133. The firm has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46, a PEG ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $329.87 and a 200-day moving average of $313.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.