Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WOOF. Evercore decreased their price target on Petco Health and Wellness from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Petco Health and Wellness from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Petco Health and Wellness from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Petco Health and Wellness in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Petco Health and Wellness from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $4.05 to $5.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.06.

Petco Health and Wellness Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WOOF opened at $2.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.02. Petco Health and Wellness has a 1-year low of $2.24 and a 1-year high of $4.51. The company has a market cap of $905.24 million, a PE ratio of 93.67 and a beta of 1.62.

Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). Petco Health and Wellness had a return on equity of 0.89% and a net margin of 0.15%.The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) earnings per share. Petco Health and Wellness’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Petco Health and Wellness will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WOOF. Nuveen LLC increased its position in shares of Petco Health and Wellness by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 3,998,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,236,000 after buying an additional 1,800,860 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Petco Health and Wellness by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,091,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,583 shares in the last quarter. Candlestick Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Petco Health and Wellness during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,772,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Petco Health and Wellness by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,637,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Petco Health and Wellness during the 4th quarter worth about $2,692,000.

About Petco Health and Wellness

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc (NASDAQ: WOOF) is a leading U.S. pet specialty retailer focused on delivering products, services and solutions that improve the health and well-being of pets. The company operates a network of retail locations that provide high-quality pet food, supplies and accessories, along with a growing digital platform that supports online ordering, subscription delivery and telehealth consultations for pets.

In addition to its retail offerings, Petco has built a full suite of in-store and virtual services, including grooming, training, dog daycare and veterinary care.