American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 70,225 Shares of 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. lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300,921 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 70,225 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 4.23% of PriceSmart worth $114,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,305,698 shares of the company's stock worth $120,345,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 25.8% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 782,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,730,000 after acquiring an additional 160,656 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 0.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,140,000 after acquiring an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the first quarter valued at $36,685,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 24.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 356,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,326,000 after acquiring an additional 69,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,282,399.48. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of PSMT traded up $2.9390 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $110.4790. The company's stock had a trading volume of 76,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,162. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.77. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.25 and a 1-year high of $114.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.13.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th.

PriceSmart 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.