Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 456,915 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,039 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.49% of PriceSmart worth $40,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PSMT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake 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 valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $591,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 536.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of PriceSmart 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,282,399.48. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $2.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $109.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 0.77. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.25 and a 12 month high of $114.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.13.

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