Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 393.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $165,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, Director Leon C. Janks sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total transaction of $305,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,433,446.52. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 2,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $208,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,145,144. The trade was a 15.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,005,273. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PriceSmart stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $108.25. The company had a trading volume of 226,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,587. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.45 and a 200 day moving average of $93.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 0.81. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $109.84.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. PriceSmart's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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.