Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HSBC set a $140.00 target price on Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.91.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $128.73 on Friday. Zoetis has a one year low of $115.25 and a one year high of $177.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $125.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $54.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.96.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.24% and a return on equity of 62.02%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Zoetis will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 3,311.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 158,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,912,000 after buying an additional 153,611 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $390,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 58,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,360,000 after purchasing an additional 15,115 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $35,365,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

About Zoetis

Zoetis Inc (NYSE: ZTS) is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products and services for companion animals and livestock. The company’s offerings include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, parasiticides and anti-infectives, as well as diagnostic instruments, consumables and laboratory testing services. Zoetis serves the veterinary community, livestock producers and other animal-health customers with products designed to prevent, detect and treat disease and to support animal productivity and welfare.

Zoetis traces its roots to the animal health business of Pfizer and became an independent, publicly traded company following a 2013 separation and initial public offering.