PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) to Issue $0.63 Semi-annual Dividend

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) announced a semi-annual dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.63 per share on Friday, August 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th.

PriceSmart has increased its dividend payment by an average of 18.3% per year over the last three years. PriceSmart has a dividend payout ratio of 20.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $94.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.93. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 0.85. 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 has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $99.23.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PriceSmart will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,730,823. This trade represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total value of $96,552.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,862 shares in the company, valued at $598,503.64. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,262 shares of company stock worth $1,749,898 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.