West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Board of Directors Initiates Share Buyback Program

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 2.0%

WST opened at $247.99 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $322.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 17.90%. The firm had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reduced their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.56.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.