GSK (GSK) Competitors

GSK (NYSE:GSK) and Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in GSK or ZTS?

13.2% of GSK shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.2% of Zoetis shares are held by institutional investors. 10.0% of GSK shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Zoetis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is GSK or ZTS a better dividend stock?

GSK pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Zoetis pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. GSK pays out 16.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Zoetis pays out 33.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. GSK is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend GSK or ZTS?

Zoetis has a consensus target price of $221.14, suggesting a potential upside of 28.66%. Given GSK's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe GSK is more favorable than Zoetis.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GSK	3 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.09
Zoetis	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor GSK or ZTS?

In the previous week, GSK had 2 more articles in the media than Zoetis. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for GSK and 6 mentions for Zoetis. GSK's average media sentiment score of 0.59 beat Zoetis' score of 0.54 indicating that GSK is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GSK	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Zoetis	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is GSK or ZTS more profitable?

GSK has a net margin of 47.85% compared to Zoetis' net margin of 25.59%. Zoetis' return on equity of 50.26% beat GSK's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GSK	47.85%	43.27%	8.55%
Zoetis	25.59%	50.26%	16.24%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, GSK or ZTS?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GSK	$36.28 billion	1.93	$18.50 billion	$8.28	4.12
Zoetis	$8.09 billion	9.81	$2.11 billion	$4.43	38.80

Which has more volatility & risk, GSK or ZTS?

GSK has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zoetis has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer GSK or ZTS?

Zoetis received 69 more outperform votes than GSK when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 77.57% of users gave Zoetis an outperform vote while only 56.79% of users gave GSK an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
GSK	Outperform Votes 799 56.79%	Underperform Votes 608 43.21%
Zoetis	Outperform Votes 868 77.57%	Underperform Votes 251 22.43%

Summary

GSK and Zoetis tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.