In the latest trading session, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) closed at $378.36, marking a -1.35% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.22% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.19%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.53%.

Coming into today, shares of the medical device company had lost 17.68% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 11.24%, while the S&P 500 lost 6.58%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from West Pharmaceutical Services as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.92, up 43.28% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $709.1 million, up 22.22% from the prior-year quarter.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. West Pharmaceutical Services is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 42.58. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.3.

Investors should also note that WST has a PEG ratio of 1.54 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - Dental Supplies industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.54 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 102, putting it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (WST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.