PetIQ (NASDAQ:PETQ) Shares Gap Up to $17.65

PetIQ, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETQ) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $17.65, but opened at $19.24. PetIQ shares last traded at $18.49, with a volume of 57,011 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on PetIQ from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PetIQ presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

PetIQ Stock Up 7.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $558.29 million, a PE ratio of 314.55 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.99.

PetIQ (NASDAQ:PETQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by $0.22. PetIQ had a net margin of 0.19% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $219.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.70 million. Analysts expect that PetIQ, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PetIQ

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in PetIQ during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PetIQ by 50.2% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in PetIQ during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in PetIQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in PetIQ by 351.4% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PetIQ

PetIQ, Inc operates as a pet medication and wellness company in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Products and Services. The company offers Rx pet medications, which sells flea and tick control, heartworm preventatives, arthritis, thyroid, diabetes and pain treatments, antibiotics, and other specialty medications; and develops and manufactures its own proprietary value-branded products, as well as third-party branded products for dogs and cats.