Quest Partners LLC Increases Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Quest Partners LLC grew its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 45.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,009 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in PriceSmart by 237.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.3 %

PSMT stock opened at $87.70 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.04 and a 200 day moving average of $86.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.79 and a 52 week high of $94.82.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.62, for a total transaction of $358,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,569,076.42. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 3,235 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.96, for a total transaction of $291,020.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,986,037.64. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,960 shares of company stock valued at $1,535,673. 18.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PriceSmart 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.