Sei Investments Co. Grows Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. by 22% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.15% of the company, worth about $4.1 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have also made significant changes to their holdings in PriceSmart, resulting in institutional ownership of 80.46% of the stock.
• PriceSmart reported quarterly earnings of $1.14 per share, slightly missing analysts' expectations but showing a revenue increase of 7.1% compared to the previous year.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 22.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,177 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,316 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.15% of PriceSmart worth $4,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 73,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,763,000 after purchasing an additional 30,417 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 26,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,421,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,438,000 after buying an additional 11,797 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,952 shares of the company's stock worth $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in PriceSmart by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,149 shares of the company's stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

NASDAQ PSMT traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $108.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 166,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 186,702. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company's 50-day moving average is $107.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.01. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.25 and a fifty-two week high of $114.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,282,399.48. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.