Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 16,803 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. by 27.2%, now owning 78,691 shares worth approximately $6.91 million.
• PriceSmart's stock was recently upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating growing confidence in the company's performance.
• In its latest earnings report, PriceSmart missed EPS estimates, reporting $1.14, but achieved revenue of $1.32 billion, surpassing analyst expectations.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 27.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,691 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,803 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.26% of PriceSmart worth $6,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PSMT. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter worth $36,685,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 70,410.0% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 282,040 shares of the company's stock worth $25,996,000 after buying an additional 281,640 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 670.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 231,949 shares of the company's stock worth $21,380,000 after buying an additional 201,841 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 25.8% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 782,353 shares of the company's stock worth $68,730,000 after buying an additional 160,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in PriceSmart by 522.5% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 113,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 95,073 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Trading Down 2.5%

PSMT stock traded down $2.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $109.48. 204,486 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 237,784. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $81.25 and a one year high of $114.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $107.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.87.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart 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 in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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