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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT opened at $89.96 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.40. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart has a 52-week low of $66.95 and a 52-week high of $94.82.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,569,076.42. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total transaction of $253,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,505,370.56. This trade represents a 5.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,960 shares of company stock worth $1,535,673. 18.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3.2% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 237.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.