Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $215.22.

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,684,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $563,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its stake in Zoetis by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 74,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,556,000 after purchasing an additional 10,427 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 120,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,505,000 after buying an additional 18,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Zoetis by 947.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 180,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,360,000 after buying an additional 163,700 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $163.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.15. Zoetis has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $73.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zoetis will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.