PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Hits New 52-Week High Following Strong Earnings

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $86.90 and last traded at $81.51, with a volume of 77334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.09.

The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 2.53%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.5%. PriceSmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PSMT. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in PriceSmart in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in PriceSmart in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in PriceSmart by 80.3% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 759 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 30,300.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 912 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 331.4% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $81.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

About PriceSmart

PriceSmart, Inc owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia. The company provides basic and private label consumer products under the Member's Selection brand, including groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, meat, produce, deli, seafood, and poultry.