Zacks Research Has Bearish Estimate for WST Q1 Earnings

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) – Analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services in a note issued to investors on Thursday, March 6th. Zacks Research analyst I. Bandyopadhyay now expects that the medical instruments supplier will earn $1.24 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.62. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services’ current full-year earnings is $6.62 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services’ Q2 2025 earnings at $1.44 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.65 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.85 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $6.19 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.43 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.82 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.02 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.23 EPS.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $231.55 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after purchasing an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.