Nomura Holdings Inc. Purchases New Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in PriceSmart, Inc., purchasing 5,127 shares valued at approximately $450,000 during the first quarter of 2023.
• Institutional investors hold 80.46% of PriceSmart's stock, indicating strong interest and confidence in the company's performance.
• PriceSmart's recent earnings report showed a 7.1% increase in revenue year-over-year, although its earnings per share missed analyst expectations by $0.02.

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 211.5% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 8,100 shares of the company's stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 59.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,370 shares of the company's stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 19.3% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in PriceSmart during the first quarter valued at about $663,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $111.00. 307,829 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 174,620. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.25 and a 1-year high of $114.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50-day moving average price is $108.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.82.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released its 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). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total transaction of $58,470.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th.

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.