Reviewing West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) and Silk Road Medical (NASDAQ:SILK)

Silk Road Medical (NASDAQ:SILK) and West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Silk Road Medical has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Silk Road Medical and West Pharmaceutical Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Silk Road Medical	$177.13 million	6.31	-$55.74 million	($1.37)	-20.07
West Pharmaceutical Services	$2.88 billion	7.87	$593.40 million	$7.58	41.03

West Pharmaceutical Services has higher revenue and earnings than Silk Road Medical. Silk Road Medical 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.

Profitability

This table compares Silk Road Medical and West Pharmaceutical Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Silk Road Medical	-29.53%	-37.30%	-21.57%
West Pharmaceutical Services	18.25%	19.17%	14.38%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Silk Road Medical and West Pharmaceutical Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Silk Road Medical	2	7	0	0	1.78
West Pharmaceutical Services	0	1	3	0	2.75

Silk Road Medical presently has a consensus target price of $20.29, suggesting a potential downside of 26.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus target price of $442.75, suggesting a potential upside of 42.36%. Given West Pharmaceutical Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe West Pharmaceutical Services is more favorable than Silk Road Medical.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Silk Road Medical shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

West Pharmaceutical Services beats Silk Road Medical on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Silk Road Medical

Silk Road Medical, Inc operates as a medical device company in the United States. The company offers various products for the treatment of carotid artery disease called transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR). Its products comprise ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System that is used to directly access the common carotid artery and establish temporary blood flow reversal; ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent System for transcarotid access; ENHANCE Transcarotid Peripheral Access Kit, which is used to gain initial access to the common carotid artery; ENROUTE 0.014 Guidewire for atraumatic vessel navigation and target lesion crossing for delivery of interventional devices; and ENROUTE Enflate Transcarotid RX Balloon Dilation Catheter, a transcarotid rapid exchange balloon for the TCAR procedure. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. This segment also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices; and a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. The company serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. It sells and distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, contract sales agents, and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.