PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 2.53%. The firm's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS.

PriceSmart Stock Down 3.1 %

PriceSmart stock traded down $2.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.53. The stock had a trading volume of 488,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,019. PriceSmart has a 12 month low of $61.82 and a 12 month high of $86.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 759 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 358.3% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,100 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 148.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the company's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PSMT. StockNews.com raised PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet raised PriceSmart from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th.

PriceSmart Company Profile

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.