PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

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

PriceSmart Price Performance

PSMT stock opened at $91.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.87. PriceSmart has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $99.23. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is presently 26.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

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 value of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,143,903.36. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 8,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.51, for a total value of $725,890.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 123,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,182,238.97. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.