Royce & Associates LP Sells 3,172 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,922 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,172 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.07% of PriceSmart worth $1,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PSMT. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PriceSmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in PriceSmart by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total transaction of $358,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,213,503.47. This trade represents a 6.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,606,545. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PriceSmart Price Performance

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $84.20 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.51 and a 12-month high of $99.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

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.