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

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

PriceSmart has raised its dividend by an average of 9.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 3 years. PriceSmart has a payout ratio of 27.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $78.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. PriceSmart has a fifty-two week low of $61.82 and a fifty-two week high of $86.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts predict that PriceSmart will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was 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. Insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSMT. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 80.3% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 759 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 148.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. TheStreet raised PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a 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.