Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 23,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,193,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of PriceSmart at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in PriceSmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,305,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,230,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,434,000 after purchasing an additional 48,108 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,204,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,025,000 after purchasing an additional 21,827 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 692,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,874,000 after purchasing an additional 7,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,302,000 after purchasing an additional 140,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $208,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,011 shares in the company, valued at $1,145,144. This represents a 15.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.74, for a total transaction of $54,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,458 shares in the company, valued at $7,825,400.92. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,005,273. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PriceSmart stock traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $108.45. 338,865 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 192,282. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.66. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.51 and a 12 month high of $108.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. PriceSmart's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current 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.