Head-To-Head Survey: Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) & Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST)

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) and Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Zoetis and Aquestive Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zoetis	0	5	5	0	2.50
Aquestive Therapeutics	1	0	8	2	3.00

Zoetis presently has a consensus target price of $191.00, indicating a potential upside of 59.56%. Aquestive Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 72.56%. Given Aquestive Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Aquestive Therapeutics is more favorable than Zoetis.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Zoetis and Aquestive Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zoetis	$9.40 billion	5.61	$2.49 billion	$5.94	20.15
Aquestive Therapeutics	$57.56 million	12.28	-$44.14 million	($0.71)	-8.16

Zoetis has higher revenue and earnings than Aquestive Therapeutics. Aquestive Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zoetis, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Zoetis has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aquestive Therapeutics has a beta of 1.79, meaning that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Zoetis and Aquestive Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zoetis	27.83%	56.90%	19.54%
Aquestive Therapeutics	-158.95%	N/A	-59.86%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.8% of Zoetis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Zoetis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Zoetis beats Aquestive Therapeutics on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zoetis

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. It also offers parasiticides, vaccines, dermatology, other pharmaceutical, anti-infectives, animal health diagnostics, and medicated feed additives. In addition, the company provides animal health diagnostics, including point-of-care diagnostic products, instruments and reagents, rapid immunoassay tests, reference laboratory kits and services, and blood glucose monitors; and other non-pharmaceutical products, which include nutritionals, as well as products and services in biodevices, genetic tests, and precision animal health. It markets its products to veterinarians, livestock producers, and pet owners. The company has collaboration Blacksmith Medicines, Inc. to discover and develop novel antibiotics for animal health. Zoetis Inc. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a pharmaceutical company in the United States and internationally. The company markets Sympazan, an oral soluble film formulation of clobazam for the treatment of lennox-gastaut syndrome; Suboxone, a sublingual film formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone for the treatment of opioid dependence; Zuplenz, an oral soluble film formulation of ondansetron for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and post-operative recovery; and Azstarys, a once-daily product for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its proprietary product candidates comprise Libervant, a buccal soluble film formulation of diazepam for the treatment of seizures; KYNMOBI, a sublingual film formulation of apomorphine for the treatment of episodic off-periods in Parkinson's disease; and Exservan, an oral soluble film formulation of riluzole for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The company's proprietary pipeline of complex molecule product includes AQST-108, a sublingual film formulation delivering systemic epinephrine for the treatment of conditions other than anaphylaxis; and Anaphylm, an epinephrine sublingual film for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. In addition, it develops Adrenaverse, an epinephrine prodrug platform. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Warren, New Jersey.