PriceSmart (PSMT) Competitors

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Is WMT or PSMT a better dividend stock?

Walmart pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. PriceSmart pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Walmart pays out 39.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PriceSmart pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Walmart has raised its dividend for 53 consecutive years. PriceSmart is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WMT or PSMT?

26.8% of Walmart shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.5% of PriceSmart shares are owned by institutional investors. 45.6% of Walmart shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of PriceSmart shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, WMT or PSMT?

Walmart has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PriceSmart has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WMT or PSMT?

Walmart received 1257 more outperform votes than PriceSmart when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.46% of users gave PriceSmart an outperform vote while only 61.85% of users gave Walmart an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Walmart	Outperform Votes 1576 61.85%	Underperform Votes 972 38.15%
PriceSmart	Outperform Votes 319 66.46%	Underperform Votes 161 33.54%

Does the media prefer WMT or PSMT?

In the previous week, Walmart had 134 more articles in the media than PriceSmart. MarketBeat recorded 143 mentions for Walmart and 9 mentions for PriceSmart. PriceSmart's average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Walmart's score of 0.98 indicating that PriceSmart is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Walmart	92 Very Positive mention(s)	16 Positive mention(s)	22 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
PriceSmart	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WMT or PSMT more profitable?

Walmart has a net margin of 2.85% compared to PriceSmart's net margin of 2.76%. Walmart's return on equity of 21.87% beat PriceSmart's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Walmart	2.85%	21.87%	7.84%
PriceSmart	2.76%	12.29%	6.75%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, WMT or PSMT?

Walmart has higher revenue and earnings than PriceSmart. PriceSmart is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walmart, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Walmart	$680.99B	1.00	$15.51B	$2.41	35.14
PriceSmart	$5.01B	0.52	$138.88M	$4.54	18.85

Do analysts rate WMT or PSMT?

Walmart presently has a consensus price target of $103.17, indicating a potential upside of 21.82%. PriceSmart has a consensus price target of $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.15%. Given Walmart's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Walmart is more favorable than PriceSmart.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Walmart	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	29 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.97
PriceSmart	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Walmart beats PriceSmart on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.