Jefferies Has $43 Target On PetSmart (PETM)

Jefferies & Co. has a $43 price target and a Buy rating on PetSmart, Inc. PETM. In a note sent to clients, Jefferies writes, "We are raising our FY11 EPS estimates slightly to $1.98 from $1.97 and maintaining our FY12 EPS est. of $2.31. Mgmt raised its comp store sales guidance to mid-single digits on the year and tacked on an additional $0.03 of EPS at the mid-pt, after exceeding the mid-point of Q3 guidance by $0.01. We continue to like the PetSmart story as it continues to benefit from a trade up in mix, improving PetsHotel trends, strong overall services growth, improved merchandising, which is helping to distinguish it in the industry and better retail execution at the store level (i.e. better in stocks and presentation, stable cost structure, more effective advertising)." Shares of PETM gained 61 cents yesterday to close at $38.28, a gain of 1.6%.