UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrades PetMed Express to Buy

Piper Jaffray raises its rating on PetMed Express

to Neutral from Underweight and increases its price target to $12 from $10 due to more balanced risk/reward. Piper Jaffray says, "While the environment remains somewhat challenging and the market remains highly competitive, we believe downside is limited due to: 1) $2 in cash/share and a dividend yield of ~5%, 2) PETS refined marketing message could drive better customer retention, while driving new customer traction, 3) more prudent and effective advertising spend, 4) an earlier and possibly worse tick season due to the dry winter could drive higher than expected flea & tick sales, and 5) encouraging results from our proprietary March 2012 vet survey, which indicates trends continue to improve." PETS closed at $12.38 a share on Friday.