Costco Stock Is Moving Wednesday After The Close: What's Going On?

Costco Wholesale Corporation COST shares are getting some attention in Tuesday’s after-hours session after the company reported sales figures for March and increased its quarterly dividend.

What Happened: Costco reported net sales of $23.48 billion for the retail month of March, up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. The company noted net sales through the first 31 weeks of the year were $146.64 billion, up 6.4% year-over-year.

Total comparable sales were up 7.7% in March, while e-commerce sales jumped 28.3%. Costco’s U.S. comparable sales were up 7.3% last month, Canada comparable sales were up 8.9% and Other International sales were up 8.6%.

The “retail month of March” includes the five-week period ended April 7. The company noted that its numbers were impacted by the shift in the timing of Easter, which positively impacted total and comparable sales by approximately 0.5%.

Costco also announced its board approved a quarterly cash dividend increase from $1.02 per share to $1.16 per share, or $4.64 per share on an annualized basis. The dividend will be payable on May 10 to shareholders of record as of April 26.

Check This Out: Analyzing Costco Wholesale In Comparison To Competitors In Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail Industry

COST Price Action: Costco shares closed Wednesday up 0.56%. The stock was up another 0.33% after hours at $722.58 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: William James Herath from Shutterstock.