Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04, RTT News reports. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis updated its FY24 guidance to $5.71-5.81 EPS.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded up $9.24 on Thursday, hitting $167.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,846,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,136,757. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.97. Zoetis has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $201.92. The company has a market capitalization of $76.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 34.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $159,983.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,267.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $216.13.

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.