4,500 Shares in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT Acquired by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 4,500 shares of PriceSmart, Inc. valued at approximately $395,000 in the first quarter, reflecting increased interest from institutional investors.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating an optimistic outlook for the company's growth potential.
• PriceSmart reported earnings of $1.14 per share, slightly missing analyst expectations, but showed a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.1% to $1.32 billion.

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 560.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 297 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 119.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 635 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Michael Mccleary sold 9,754 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.62, for a total transaction of $1,078,987.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,208,210.84. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.2%

PriceSmart stock opened at $115.63 on Tuesday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.25 and a 1-year high of $120.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's fifty day moving average is $110.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.53.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PSMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.