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 report sent to investors on Monday morning.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $94.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.02 and its 200 day moving average is $89.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PriceSmart will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 8,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.51, for a total value of $725,890.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 123,547 shares in the company, valued at $11,182,238.97. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total value of $358,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,141 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,503.47. This represents a 6.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,497 shares of company stock valued at $2,040,918. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in PriceSmart during the third quarter worth approximately $124,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in PriceSmart by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 96.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 30.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA purchased a new position in PriceSmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.