PETSMART INC. $74 - Nasdaq symbol PETM

PETSMART INC. $74 (Nasdaq symbol PETM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 103.9 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.petm.com) operates 1,314 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 196 in-store PetsHotels, which look after animals while their owners are away.

In the third quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ended November 3, 2013, PetSmart’s earnings rose 12.0%, to $92.2 million from $82.3 million a year earlier. The company bought back $30 million of its shares during the quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 17.3%, to $0.88 from $0.75.

Sales rose 4.0%, to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion. Same-store sales gained 2.7%, while sales of pet services, such as grooming and training, rose 5.2%. Services accounted for 10.9% of PetSmart’s total sales.

PetSmart is a buy.

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