West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $256.27 and last traded at $229.38, with a volume of 16866 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $322.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 30.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $332.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $315.13.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. As a group, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,371 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,119,000 after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,358 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $304,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.