Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of PriceSmart by 76.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in PriceSmart by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $88.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.12. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.79 and a 12-month high of $94.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.85.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In related news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 3,235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.96, for a total transaction of $291,020.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,309 shares in the company, valued at $3,986,037.64. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total transaction of $59,663.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,470 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,803.50. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,960 shares of company stock worth $1,535,673 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.60% 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.