Petrus Trust Company LTA Takes Position in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has invested approximately $326,000 in PriceSmart, acquiring 3,714 shares, marking a new position in the company during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Harbor Capital Advisors, significantly increased their stakes in PriceSmart in the same quarter, indicating strong investor confidence.
• PriceSmart reported $1.14 EPS for the last quarter, slightly missing the consensus estimate, while revenues rose by 7.1% year-over-year to $1.32 billion.

Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,917 shares of the company's stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 353.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 169,943 shares of the company's stock worth $14,929,000 after purchasing an additional 132,502 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,591 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 1st quarter worth about $8,301,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,610 shares of the company's stock worth $6,027,000 after buying an additional 6,486 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Mccleary sold 9,754 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.62, for a total transaction of $1,078,987.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,208,210.84. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PSMT stock traded down $3.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $114.58. The stock had a trading volume of 352,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,001. The company's 50 day moving average price is $108.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.32. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.25 and a 1-year high of $120.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.