PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT Stock Holdings Boosted by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. by 665% during the first quarter, owning 38,711 shares worth approximately $3.4 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have also raised their positions in PriceSmart, leading to over 80% of the stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Wall Street analysts recently downgraded PriceSmart from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, suggesting a cautious outlook on the stock's performance.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 665.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,711 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 33,651 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned 0.13% of PriceSmart worth $3,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PSMT. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $591,000. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 354,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,695,000 after acquiring an additional 40,927 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $260,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded up $0.26 on Monday, reaching $110.23. 31,484 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,166. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $108.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.79. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.25 and a 1-year 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 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 analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday.

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.