West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) Competitors

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) and West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Is COO or WST more profitable?

West Pharmaceutical Services has a net margin of 17.03% compared to Cooper Companies' net margin of 10.07%. West Pharmaceutical Services' return on equity of 18.60% beat Cooper Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cooper Companies	10.07%	9.38%	6.09%
West Pharmaceutical Services	17.03%	18.60%	13.80%

Does the media refer more to COO or WST?

In the previous week, West Pharmaceutical Services had 5 more articles in the media than Cooper Companies. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for West Pharmaceutical Services and 14 mentions for Cooper Companies. Cooper Companies' average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat West Pharmaceutical Services' score of 0.36 indicating that Cooper Companies is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cooper Companies	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
West Pharmaceutical Services	6 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has higher valuation and earnings, COO or WST?

West Pharmaceutical Services has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cooper Companies. West Pharmaceutical Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cooper Companies, 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
Cooper Companies	$3.90B	4.53	$392.30M	$1.95	45.37
West Pharmaceutical Services	$2.89B	5.27	$492.70M	$6.69	31.50

Which has more volatility & risk, COO or WST?

Cooper Companies has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

24.4% of Cooper Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Cooper Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend COO or WST?

Cooper Companies currently has a consensus price target of $117.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.23%. West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus price target of $344.00, indicating a potential upside of 63.25%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe West Pharmaceutical Services is more favorable than Cooper Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cooper Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
West Pharmaceutical Services	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in COO or WST?

Cooper Companies received 351 more outperform votes than West Pharmaceutical Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.38% of users gave Cooper Companies an outperform vote while only 56.04% of users gave West Pharmaceutical Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cooper Companies	Outperform Votes 620 66.38%	Underperform Votes 314 33.62%
West Pharmaceutical Services	Outperform Votes 269 56.04%	Underperform Votes 211 43.96%

Summary

West Pharmaceutical Services beats Cooper Companies on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.