Boston Partners Has $26.86 Million Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• Boston Partners increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. by 0.9% in the first quarter, owning a total of 300,209 shares valued at approximately $26.86 million.
• In recent evaluations, Wall Street analysts upgraded PriceSmart's rating from "hold" to "buy", indicating positive sentiment around the stock.
• PriceSmart reported $1.14 earnings per share last quarter, slightly missing analyst expectations, but still showed a 7.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,209 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.98% of PriceSmart worth $26,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PSMT. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 536.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 119.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 635 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:PSMT traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $108.78. 166,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 186,702. PriceSmart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.25 and a twelve month high of $114.01. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.24 and a 200 day moving average of $99.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95 and a beta of 0.77.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%.The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total transaction of $58,470.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,282,399.48. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 17.10% of the stock is currently 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.