Evercore ISI Initiates Coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST)

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $275.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

WST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $227.59 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $276.85 and its 200 day moving average is $301.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.