West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) Competitors

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

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

93.9% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Chemed shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Chemed shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings & 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	$2.89B	5.65	$492.70M	$6.37	35.71
Chemed	$2.43B	2.81	$302M	$20.53	22.74

Does the media refer more to WST or CHE?

In the previous week, West Pharmaceutical Services had 10 more articles in the media than Chemed. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for West Pharmaceutical Services and 8 mentions for Chemed. West Pharmaceutical Services' average media sentiment score of 0.78 beat Chemed's score of 0.33 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	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Chemed	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is WST or CHE a better dividend stock?

West Pharmaceutical Services pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Chemed pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemed pays out 9.7% 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.

Is WST or CHE more profitable?

West Pharmaceutical Services has a net margin of 16.13% compared to Chemed's net margin of 12.40%. Chemed's return on equity of 27.58% beat West Pharmaceutical Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Pharmaceutical Services	16.13%	18.23%	13.51%
Chemed	12.40%	27.58%	18.96%

Do analysts recommend WST or CHE?

West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus target price of $320.00, indicating a potential upside of 40.67%. Chemed has a consensus target price of $645.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.14%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services' higher probable upside, research 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)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk and volatility, WST or CHE?

West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemed has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

West Pharmaceutical Services beats Chemed on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.