PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Plans None Dividend of $1.00

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) declared a None dividend on Wednesday, April 3rd, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of 1.00 per share on Tuesday, April 30th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th.

PriceSmart has increased its dividend by an average of 9.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. PriceSmart has a payout ratio of 27.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect PriceSmart to earn $5.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.3%.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $78.20 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.71. PriceSmart has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $86.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PSMT. StockNews.com downgraded PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. TheStreet raised PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note 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.