PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

PSMT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded PriceSmart from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.42. The company had a trading volume of 215,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,679. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.92. PriceSmart has a 12-month low of $61.82 and a 12-month high of $86.90.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $85,011.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $85,011.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $74,828.82. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSMT. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in PriceSmart by 114.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company's stock worth $36,692,000 after acquiring an additional 263,016 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 6.1% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,592,064 shares of the company's stock worth $185,281,000 after buying an additional 148,758 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,319,255 shares of the company's stock worth $251,533,000 after buying an additional 141,920 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in PriceSmart during the third quarter worth $7,951,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 75.4% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 242,938 shares of the company's stock worth $17,992,000 after buying an additional 104,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Company 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.