Contrasting Lexaria Bioscience (NASDAQ:LEXX) & Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS)

Lexaria Bioscience (NASDAQ:LEXX) and Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Lexaria Bioscience and Zoetis, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lexaria Bioscience	0	0	1	0	3.00
Zoetis	0	0	7	0	3.00

Lexaria Bioscience currently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 410.64%. Zoetis has a consensus target price of $218.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.61%. Given Lexaria Bioscience’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Lexaria Bioscience is more favorable than Zoetis.

Profitability

This table compares Lexaria Bioscience and Zoetis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lexaria Bioscience	N/A	-133.97%	-118.89%
Zoetis	27.43%	51.25%	17.58%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lexaria Bioscience and Zoetis’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lexaria Bioscience	$230,000.00	131.70	-$6.66 million	($0.68)	-3.46
Zoetis	$8.54 billion	8.48	$2.34 billion	$5.07	31.25

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

Volatility & Risk

Lexaria Bioscience has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zoetis has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.1% of Lexaria Bioscience shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.8% of Zoetis shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Lexaria Bioscience shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Zoetis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Zoetis beats Lexaria Bioscience on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lexaria Bioscience

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. operates as a biotechnology company. It develops and out-licenses its patented drug delivery technology, DehydraTECH, which combines lipophilic molecules or active pharmaceutical ingredients with specific long-chain fatty acids and carrier compounds that improve the way they enter the bloodstream, increasing their effectiveness and allowing for lower overall dosing while promoting healthier oral ingestion methods. The company's DehydraTECH is used with a range of active molecules encompassing fat-soluble vitamins, pain medications, hormones, PDE5 inhibitors, antivirals, oral nicotine and its analogs, and cannabinoids. Its DehydraTECH technology evaluates therapeutic indications, including hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes; and is suitable for a variety of product formats, such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, over the counter, and consumer packaged goods. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Kelowna, Canada.

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.