Comerica Bank Increases Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. by 59.0%, owning 18,370 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during Q1.
• PriceSmart reported $1.14 earnings per share, which missed analysts' estimates of $1.16, but achieved a revenue of $1.32 billion, slightly above expectations.
• Wall Street analysts downgraded PriceSmart from a "buy" to a "hold" rating following a recent earnings announcement.

Comerica Bank lifted its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 59.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,370 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned about 0.06% of PriceSmart worth $1,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 119.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 635 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT opened at $108.33 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.25 and a 52-week high of $114.01.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the business'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 value of $58,470.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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