CNC vs ZTS Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Centene's government-sponsored managed care model against Zoetis' animal health pharmaceuticals and vaccines business.
Use this Centene vs Zoetis comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
ZTS holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CNC has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+123.02% vs -50.27%), though ZTS has the better forward P/E setup (11.84x vs 12.19x for CNC). On fundamentals, CNC is growing revenue faster (4.60%), while ZTS maintains the higher operating margin (40.72%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ZTS (+24.13%) than for CNC (+10.68%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | CNC | ZTS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 46.9 | 39.2 |
| AI ranki | #669 | #1232 |
| Latest closei | $67.04 | $75.81 |
| 1M returni | +0.07% | +1.91% |
| 6M returni | +54.93% | -37.98% |
| 1Y returni | +123.02% | -50.27% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CNC | ZTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $23.4K (+134.0%) started 2025-09-04 | $4.95K (-50.5%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $10.51K (+5.1%) started 2021-09-07 | $3.91K (-60.9%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $20.53K (+105.3%) started 2016-09-06 | $16.88K (+68.8%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CNC | ZTS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $31.99B | $31.96B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 9.06 | 12.62 |
| Forward P/Ei | 12.19 | 11.84 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 8.16 |
| EV/Revenuei | 0.12 | 4.15 |
| Analyst targeti | $71.67 | $96.00 |
| Target upsidei | +10.68% | +24.13% |
| Metric | CNC | ZTS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 4.60% | -0.20% |
| Earnings growthi | 18.30% | 1.20% |
| EPS growthi | +18.30% | +1.20% |
| FCF margini | +5.35% | +21.18% |
| Operating margini | 3.76% | 40.72% |
| Profit margini | -2.83% | 27.68% |
| ROIC proxyi | -20.36% | 64.91% |
| Return on equityi | -20.36% | 64.91% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 2.74% |
| Betai | 1.10 | 0.73 |
| Debt/equityi | 71.08 | 294.00 |
| Current ratioi | 1.15 | 3.08 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.11 | 1.57 |
Over the past year, CNC and ZTS have moved barely in opposite directions (correlation of -0.01), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CNC | ZTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +134.00% | -50.52% |
| CAGRi | +134.28% | -50.57% | |
| Volatilityi | 48.75% | 37.51% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.90 | -1.79 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.96 | -2.04 | |
| Max drawdowni | 32.73% | 53.13% | |
| Current drawdowni | 2.44% | 50.55% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.99% | 27.61% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 10.48% | 32.33% | |
| Max daily dropi | 15.97% | 21.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 21.08% | 33.16% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +5.09% | -62.26% |
| CAGRi | +1.00% | -17.73% | |
| Volatilityi | 40.02% | 29.46% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.13 | -0.67 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.17 | -0.85 | |
| Max drawdowni | 74.07% | 69.95% | |
| Current drawdowni | 31.04% | 68.29% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 29.52% | 32.36% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 35.17% | 35.44% | |
| Max daily dropi | 40.37% | 21.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 41.59% | 33.16% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +105.33% | +57.78% |
| CAGRi | +7.46% | +4.67% | |
| Volatilityi | 38.63% | 27.42% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.27 | 0.14 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.37 | 0.19 | |
| Max drawdowni | 74.07% | 69.95% | |
| Current drawdowni | 31.04% | 68.29% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 20.81% | 17.94% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 27.24% | 25.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 40.37% | 21.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 41.59% | 33.16% |
| Category | CNC | ZTS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CNC | ZTS |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Healthcare Plans | Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic |
| Core business | Centene Corporation operates as a managed care company that provides programs and services to under-insured families, and commercial organizations in the United States. | Zoetis Inc. engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of medicines, vaccines, diagnostic products and services, biodevices, genetic tests, and precision animal health solutions for the an… |
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