Costco (COST) Expected to Announce Earnings of $1.68 Per Share


Equities analysts expect that Costco (NASDAQ:COST) will report earnings of $1.68 per share for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Six analysts have issued estimates for Costco’s earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $1.58 and the highest is $1.75. Costco posted earnings per share of $1.40 during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 20%. The firm is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings report after the market closes on Thursday, May 31st.

On average, analysts expect that Costco will report full-year earnings of $6.88 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $6.80 to $7.07. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the company will report earnings of $7.67 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $7.35 to $8.05. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS averages are a mean average based on a survey of analysts that that provide coverage for Costco.


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Costco (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 7th. The retailer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.73 billion. Costco had a return on equity of 24.74% and a net margin of 2.18%. Costco’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share.


A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Costco in a research note on Wednesday, May 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $224.00 target price for the company. Argus upped their target price on shares of Costco to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (down from $209.00) on shares of Costco in a research note on Thursday, March 8th. Vetr raised shares of Costco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $200.28 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, BidaskClub lowered shares of Costco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $193.37.


NASDAQ COST traded down $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $198.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,563,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,367,637. The firm has a market cap of $87.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Costco has a 1-year low of $150.00 and a 1-year high of $201.77.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 25th. Investors of record on Friday, May 11th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from Costco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 10th. Costco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.


In related news, Director John W. Meisenbach sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.31, for a total value of $573,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655,596.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy L. Rose sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.33, for a total transaction of $3,150,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 34,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,468,572.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,067 shares of company stock valued at $11,700,142 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.


A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Costco by 86.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,611,043 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,230,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,864 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco by 2,114.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,326,481 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $433,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221,445 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Costco by 252.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,388,496 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $444,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,003 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Costco by 1,913.8% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,146,393 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $216,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,467 shares during the period. Finally, Carmignac Gestion bought a new position in Costco in the 1st quarter valued at about $169,704,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.49% of the company’s stock.


About Costco

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates membership warehouses. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. The company provides dry and packaged foods, and groceries; snack foods, candies, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and cleaning supplies; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, and garden and patio products; meat, bakery, deli, and produces; and apparel and small appliances.

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Earnings History and Estimates for Costco (NASDAQ:COST)

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