Grace & White Inc. NY Has $10.01 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Grace & White Inc. NY increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.6% during the second quarter, now holding approximately $10.01 million in stock, making it 1.8% of their portfolio.
• West Pharmaceutical Services reported a Q2 EPS of $1.84, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $766.5 million, representing a 9.2% year-over-year increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.22, reflecting a yield of 0.3%, and will be paid on November 19th.

Grace & White Inc. NY raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 10.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,730 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. West Pharmaceutical Services comprises 1.8% of Grace & White Inc. NY's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Grace & White Inc. NY owned approximately 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $10,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 322.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,353 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,463 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.3% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 64,724 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $14,490,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bright Rock Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.1% in the first quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 40,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $8,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.6%

WST opened at $262.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $352.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $252.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is presently 12.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WST. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $350.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $321.89.

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.

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