West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) & Its Rivals Critical Contrast

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) is one of 511 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare West Pharmaceutical Services to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares West Pharmaceutical Services and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Pharmaceutical Services	16.98%	20.11%	14.83%
West Pharmaceutical Services Competitors	-278.47%	-150.38%	-22.01%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for West Pharmaceutical Services and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Pharmaceutical Services	0	2	12	0	2.86
West Pharmaceutical Services Competitors	4242	10453	18165	819	2.46

West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus target price of $391.17, indicating a potential downside of 6.09%. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 24.06%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services’ peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe West Pharmaceutical Services has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Pharmaceutical Services’ peers have a beta of 2.51, meaning that their average share price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.9% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.6% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares West Pharmaceutical Services and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Pharmaceutical Services	$3.33 billion	$493.70 million	53.34
West Pharmaceutical Services Competitors	$1.89 billion	$138.15 million	11.14

West Pharmaceutical Services has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. West Pharmaceutical Services is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

West Pharmaceutical Services pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. West Pharmaceutical Services pays out 13.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.2% and pay out 54.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

West Pharmaceutical Services beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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.