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

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

PriceSmart Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $80.53 on Thursday. The firm 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 market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.50. PriceSmart has a one year low of $61.82 and a one year high of $86.90.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PriceSmart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSMT. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 80.3% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 759 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 358.3% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at $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 valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.