Financial Survey: PriceSmart (PSMT) vs. Its Peers

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) is one of 149 publicly-traded companies in the “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare PriceSmart to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares PriceSmart and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PriceSmart	2.83%	12.15%	6.70%
PriceSmart Competitors	-25.86%	3.87%	2.96%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares PriceSmart and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
PriceSmart	$5.88 billion	$166.59 million	30.72
PriceSmart Competitors	$34.73 billion	$846.26 million	17.23

PriceSmart’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than PriceSmart. PriceSmart is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

PriceSmart pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. PriceSmart pays out 25.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.8% and pay out 37.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. PriceSmart has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for PriceSmart and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PriceSmart	0	0	2	0	3.00
PriceSmart Competitors	2243	8276	10067	459	2.42

PriceSmart currently has a consensus price target of $198.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.34%. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies have a potential upside of 58.12%. Given PriceSmart’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PriceSmart has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.5% of PriceSmart shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.0% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of PriceSmart shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.7% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

PriceSmart has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PriceSmart’s rivals have a beta of 0.44, indicating that their average share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

PriceSmart beats its rivals on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It offers electronics, large and small appliances, automotive, hardware, sporting goods, seasonal products, clothing, domestics, and home furnishing products. In addition, the company offers food and bakery services, as well as health services, such as optical, audiology, and pharmacy. Further, it operates an e-commerce platform for online ordering, curbside pickup, and delivery services. PriceSmart, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.