PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.69. 100,984 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 195,196. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $92.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.02 and its 200-day moving average is $82.18. 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 (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 10th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 2.60%. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PriceSmart will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total transaction of $801,515.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,164,793.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other PriceSmart news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total transaction of $801,515.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,164,793.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 1,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.00, for a total transaction of $112,926.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,112,337. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $2,222,192 over the last three months. Company insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 201.5% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 13,614 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 1st quarter worth about $2,673,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 249.0% during the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 13,461 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 165.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 14,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 9,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

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.