PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Reaches New 12-Month High at $92.76

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $92.76 and last traded at $92.75, with a volume of 69192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

PriceSmart Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.85.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PriceSmart news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.51, for a total transaction of $350,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,904,649.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.51, for a total value of $350,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,904,649.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total value of $801,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,164,793.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,471 shares of company stock worth $2,537,447. Company insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 938.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 181,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after purchasing an additional 164,449 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,319,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,533,000 after acquiring an additional 141,920 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,738,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 2,132.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 88,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 84,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,261,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,631,000 after purchasing an additional 60,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

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.