PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $78.30, but opened at $82.11. PriceSmart shares last traded at $79.48, with a volume of 48,283 shares traded.

The company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on PSMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.92, for a total value of $491,520.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 140,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,508,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other PriceSmart news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total value of $40,581.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,406.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.92, for a total value of $491,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 140,485 shares in the company, valued at $11,508,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,125 shares of company stock worth $2,175,282. Company insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,424,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,671,000 after purchasing an additional 105,405 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in PriceSmart by 1.1% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,713,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,931,000 after purchasing an additional 30,045 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in PriceSmart by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,261,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,631,000 after purchasing an additional 60,673 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 114.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,692,000 after buying an additional 263,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 938.5% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 181,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after buying an additional 164,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Trading Up 2.5 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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.