PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT Shares Acquired by OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. by 211.5% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 5,500 shares for a total of 8,100 shares valued at $712,000.
• PriceSmart reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.14, which was below the consensus estimate of $1.16, despite revenues of $1.32 billion, slightly exceeding expectations.
• Following the sale of 550 shares by EVP Francisco Velasco, 17.10% of PriceSmart's stock is now owned by insiders, indicating significant ownership stake among executives.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 211.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,100 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in PriceSmart were worth $712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in PriceSmart during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PriceSmart during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in PriceSmart by 119.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 635 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in PriceSmart by 24.3% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd.

PriceSmart Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of PSMT traded up $1.25 on Thursday, hitting $109.58. 176,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 233,882. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $108.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.25 and a 1 year high of $114.01.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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.