West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) Competitors

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) and Chemed (NYSE:CHE) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Is WST or CHE a better dividend stock?

West Pharmaceutical Services pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Chemed pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. West Pharmaceutical Services pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemed pays out 12.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Chemed has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Chemed is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, WST or CHE?

West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemed has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend WST or CHE?

West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus price target of $320.71, indicating a potential upside of 30.17%. Chemed has a consensus price target of $579.75, indicating a potential upside of 28.60%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe West Pharmaceutical Services is more favorable than Chemed.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Pharmaceutical Services	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89
Chemed	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WST or CHE?

93.9% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Chemed shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Chemed shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, WST or CHE?

West Pharmaceutical Services has higher revenue and earnings than Chemed. Chemed 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Pharmaceutical Services	$2.96B	5.98	$492.70M	$6.68	36.88
Chemed	$2.43B	2.70	$302M	$19.45	23.18

Does the media refer more to WST or CHE?

In the previous week, West Pharmaceutical Services had 6 more articles in the media than Chemed. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for West Pharmaceutical Services and 10 mentions for Chemed. West Pharmaceutical Services' average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat Chemed's score of 1.23 indicating that West Pharmaceutical Services is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
West Pharmaceutical Services	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Chemed	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WST or CHE more profitable?

West Pharmaceutical Services has a net margin of 16.48% compared to Chemed's net margin of 11.56%. Chemed's return on equity of 25.83% beat West Pharmaceutical Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Pharmaceutical Services	16.48%	18.43%	13.67%
Chemed	11.56%	25.83%	17.77%

Summary

West Pharmaceutical Services beats Chemed on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.