PriceSmart (PSMT) Competitors

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is WMT or PSMT a better dividend stock?

Walmart pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. PriceSmart pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Walmart pays out 35.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PriceSmart pays out 26.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Walmart has increased its dividend for 53 consecutive years and PriceSmart has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. PriceSmart is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to WMT or PSMT?

In the previous week, Walmart had 182 more articles in the media than PriceSmart. MarketBeat recorded 192 mentions for Walmart and 10 mentions for PriceSmart. PriceSmart's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Walmart's score of 0.77 indicating that PriceSmart is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Walmart	101 Very Positive mention(s)	18 Positive mention(s)	36 Neutral mention(s)	12 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
PriceSmart	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer WMT or PSMT?

Walmart presently has a consensus target price of $110.07, indicating a potential upside of 13.69%. Given Walmart's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Walmart is more favorable than PriceSmart.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Walmart	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	29 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
PriceSmart	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WMT or PSMT?

26.8% of Walmart shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.5% of PriceSmart shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Walmart shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of PriceSmart shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, WMT or PSMT?

Walmart has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PriceSmart has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WMT or PSMT more profitable?

Walmart has a net margin of 3.08% compared to PriceSmart's net margin of 2.82%. Walmart's return on equity of 21.45% beat PriceSmart's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Walmart	3.08%	21.45%	7.68%
PriceSmart	2.82%	12.46%	6.97%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, WMT or PSMT?

Walmart has higher revenue and earnings than PriceSmart. PriceSmart is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walmart, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Walmart	$680.99B	1.13	$19.44B	$2.66	36.40
PriceSmart	$5.17B	0.66	$138.88M	$4.74	23.36

Summary

Walmart beats PriceSmart on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.