Insider Selling: PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Sells 937 Shares of Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT traded down $1.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 136,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,796. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $81.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.71. 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 cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.92. PriceSmart, Inc. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in PriceSmart during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in PriceSmart during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in PriceSmart by 80.3% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 759 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in PriceSmart by 30,300.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 912 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in PriceSmart by 331.4% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PSMT. TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PriceSmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday.

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.