PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Sells $130,274.07 in Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 1,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $130,274.07. Following the sale, the director now owns 91,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,617,006.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PSMT traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $82.02. 106,277 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 159,329. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $86.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.00 and a 200-day moving average of $76.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is 29.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PSMT. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 249.0% in the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the first quarter worth about $2,420,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PriceSmart by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the first quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the first quarter worth about $780,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

About PriceSmart

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.