PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 18th

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) declared a None dividend on Wednesday, April 3rd, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given 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 payment by an average of 9.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. PriceSmart has a dividend 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 Trading Down 1.6 %

PSMT traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $78.41. 3,674 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 152,704. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.68. PriceSmart has a 52-week low of $61.82 and a 52-week high of $86.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 13,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in PriceSmart by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in PriceSmart by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in PriceSmart by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday.

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.