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

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,194 shares of the company's stock worth $11,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 68.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,785 shares of the company's stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 522.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 113,268 shares of the company's stock worth $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 95,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 7,364.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 69,050 shares of the company's stock worth $6,066,000 after buying an additional 68,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT opened at $111.98 on Tuesday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $81.25 and a one year high of $114.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $108.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,282,399.48. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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