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Zoetis (ZTS) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Zoetis (ZTS - Free Report) closed at $164.47, marking a -1.11% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.1% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.19%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 3.27%.

Heading into today, shares of the animal health company had lost 4.38% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 2.4% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.02% in that time.

Zoetis will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Zoetis to post earnings of $1.31 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 0.76%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.06 billion, up 3.7% from the year-ago period.

ZTS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.37 per share and revenue of $8.65 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +10.04% and +7.06%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Zoetis. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% lower within the past month. Zoetis currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Zoetis currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 30.95. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.86, which means Zoetis is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that ZTS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.58. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Medical - Drugs industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.22 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Drugs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, which puts it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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