West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 7.630-7.880 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 7.620. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.0 billion-$3.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.0 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WST. UBS Group reduced their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp upped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock traded down $7.75 on Friday, hitting $360.43. 603,058 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 378,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.24. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The stock has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $377.63 and a 200 day moving average of $364.13.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.29% and a net margin of 19.42%. The business had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 10.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.53% 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.