Zoetis (ZTS) closed the most recent trading day at $149.79, moving -1.29% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.27%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.43%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.37%.
The animal health company's shares have seen an increase of 1.83% over the last month, not keeping up with the Medical sector's gain of 6.54% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.85%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Zoetis in its forthcoming earnings report. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.64, marking a 3.8% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.43 billion, indicating a 1.56% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.34 per share and revenue of $9.51 billion, which would represent changes of +7.09% and +2.79%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Zoetis. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.08% upward. Right now, Zoetis possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Zoetis is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 23.94. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 15.52.
We can also see that ZTS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.44. 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 average PEG ratio for the Medical – Drugs industry stood at 1.55 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Medical – Drugs industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 87, putting it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.
