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

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 7.630-7.880 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded down $7.75 on Friday, reaching $360.43. The company had a trading volume of 603,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,628. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $377.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $364.13. The firm has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52-week low of $310.42 and a 52-week high of $415.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.88.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $435.20.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Company 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.