Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC – Get Free Report) and West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings for Henry Schein and West Pharmaceutical Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Henry Schein | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2.38 |
| West Pharmaceutical Services | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3.00 |
Henry Schein currently has a consensus price target of $85.58, indicating a potential upside of 3.88%. West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus price target of $314.56, indicating a potential upside of 23.79%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe West Pharmaceutical Services is more favorable than Henry Schein.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
Profitability
This table compares Henry Schein and West Pharmaceutical Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Henry Schein | 3.02% | 15.16% | 5.54% |
| West Pharmaceutical Services | 16.06% | 17.90% | 13.29% |
Risk & Volatility
Henry Schein has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Henry Schein and West Pharmaceutical Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Henry Schein | $12.94 billion | 0.75 | $390.00 million | $3.27 | 25.20 |
| West Pharmaceutical Services | $3.07 billion | 5.95 | $493.70 million | $6.79 | 37.42 |
West Pharmaceutical Services has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Henry Schein. Henry Schein is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than West Pharmaceutical Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
West Pharmaceutical Services beats Henry Schein on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Henry Schein
Henry Schein, Inc. provides health care products and services to dental practitioners, laboratories, physician practices, and ambulatory surgery centers, government, institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care clinics worldwide. It operates through two segments, Health Care Distribution, and Technology and Value-Added Services. The Health Care Distribution segment offers dental products, including infection-control products, handpieces, preventatives, impression materials, composites, anesthetics, teeth, dental implants, gypsum, acrylics, articulators, abrasives, dental chairs, delivery units and lights, X-ray supplies and equipment, personal protective equipment, and high-tech and digital restoration equipment, as well as equipment repair services. This segment also provides medical products, such as branded and generic pharmaceuticals, vaccines, surgical products, diagnostic tests, infection-control products, X-ray products, equipment, and vitamins. The Technology and Value-Added Services segment offers software, technology, and other value-added services that include practice management software systems for dental and medical practitioners; and value-added practice solutions comprising practice consultancy, education, revenue cycle management and financial services, e-services, practice technology, and network and hardware services, as well as consulting, and continuing education services. Henry Schein, Inc. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.
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. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. This segment also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices; and a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. The company serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. It sells and distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, contract sales agents, and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Receive News & Ratings for Henry Schein Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Henry Schein and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
