American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stock holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. by 5.7%, acquiring an additional 70,225 shares to own approximately 4.23% of the company, valued at about $114.3 million.
• PriceSmart reported $1.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly missing analysts' expectations, but its revenue increased by 7.1% year-over-year, totaling $1.32 billion.
• Various institutional investors have also boosted their stakes in PriceSmart, with approximately 80.46% of the stock currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300,921 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,225 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 4.23% of PriceSmart worth $114,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,438,000 after buying an additional 11,797 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,952 shares of the company's stock worth $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,149 shares of the company's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,383 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 287,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,484,000 after purchasing an additional 10,103 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 research report on Saturday, July 5th.

PriceSmart Trading Down 0.6%

PSMT stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $108.78. 166,373 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 237,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.25 and a fifty-two week high of $114.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $107.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total transaction of $58,470.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.