Brokerages Anticipate Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) to Announce $3.02 EPS

Brokerages predict that Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) will announce earnings of $3.02 per share for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Eight analysts have issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $2.85 and the highest is $3.49. Costco Wholesale posted earnings per share of $2.75 in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year-over-year growth rate of 9.8%. The company is scheduled to report its next quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will report full-year earnings of $13.01 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $12.70 to $13.23. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the business will report earnings of $14.30 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $13.74 to $15.08. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that follow Costco Wholesale.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.18. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The business had revenue of $51.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis.

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $603.00 to $634.00 in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $550.00 to $555.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 6th. Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $520.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 5th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $567.93.

In other news, VP Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.45, for a total transaction of $1,633,949.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.67, for a total transaction of $138,667.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,566 shares of company stock valued at $7,051,086. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Core Alternative Capital purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.74% of the company’s stock.

NASDAQ:COST opened at $591.09 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $542.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.34. The firm has a market cap of $261.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.63, a PEG ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.03. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $362.55 and a one year high of $612.27.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 13th. Investors of record on Friday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

About Costco Wholesale (Get Rating)

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.

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