PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $89.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.65. PriceSmart has a 52 week low of $74.74 and a 52 week high of $99.23.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that PriceSmart will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total transaction of $497,566.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,106.18. This trade represents a 20.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total value of $253,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,370.56. This represents a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,463 shares of company stock worth $1,400,727. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in PriceSmart by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,085,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,175,000 after buying an additional 184,252 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 481,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,163,000 after acquiring an additional 75,896 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,721,000 after acquiring an additional 74,201 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in PriceSmart by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,552,000 after acquiring an additional 65,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 179.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 36,614 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Company Profile

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.