PETSMART INC. $21 - Nasdaq symbol PETM

PETSMART INC. $21 (Nasdaq symbol PETM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 127.1 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; WSSF Rating: Above Average) sells pet food and supplies through 1,112 stores in the U.S. and Canada. PetSmart opened 112 new stores in its latest fiscal year, which ended February 1, 2009. It also opened 45 new in-store PetHotels, which look after pets while their owners are out of town. PetSmart now has 142 PetHotels. As a result of the expansion, sales rose 8.4%, to $5.1 billion from $4.7 billion in the previous year. Same-store sales rose 3.8%. PetSmart’s earnings fell 25.5%, to $192.7 million from $258.7 million. Its earnings per share fell 22.1%, to $1.52 from $1.95 on fewer shares outstanding. However, the prior year included a $95.4-million gain on the sale of an investment. If you disregard this, per-share earnings actually rose 4.1%. The company’s $553.8-million long-term debt is just 21% of its market cap. It also holds cash of $126.3 million, or $1.00 a share. The stock trades at a reasonable 14.5 times the $1.45 a share PetSmart will probably earn this year. The $0.12 dividend yields 0.6%. PetSmart is a buy.

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