West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (WST) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 7th

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th.

West Pharmaceutical Services has raised its dividend by an average of 5.4% annually over the last three years. West Pharmaceutical Services has a dividend payout ratio of 9.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect West Pharmaceutical Services to earn $7.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.2%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WST opened at $340.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.63 billion, a PE ratio of 50.46, a PEG ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $330.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $313.87. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.20.

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.