PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $3.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.79. 364,261 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 182,009. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.17 and a 200-day moving average of $89.99. PriceSmart has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $99.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at $7,143,903.36. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,606,545. The trade was a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th.

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.