Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its ownership in PriceSmart, Inc. by 41.7% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 7,907 shares, bringing its total holdings to 26,859 shares valued at approximately $2.36 million.
• Wall Street Zen downgraded PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a cautious outlook from analysts regarding the company's stock performance.
• PriceSmart recently reported earnings of $1.14 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16, even though its revenue increased by 7.1% year-over-year, totaling $1.32 billion.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,859 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of PriceSmart worth $2,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 2.3% in the first 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 holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 68.1% in the first 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 holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 19.3% in the first 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 holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 522.5% in the first 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 grew 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 purchasing an additional 68,125 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm'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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT traded down $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $107.26. The stock had a trading volume of 146,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,413. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $81.25 and a one year high of $114.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $107.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.77.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.