Short Interest in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Declines By 23.2%

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 729,700 shares, a decrease of 23.2% from the March 15th total of 949,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 144,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company's shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,177,335 shares of the company's stock worth $236,489,000 after acquiring an additional 133,814 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al increased its stake in PriceSmart by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 63,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,749,000 after buying an additional 19,311 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,675 shares of the company's stock worth $3,102,000 after buying an additional 18,249 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company's stock worth $36,692,000 after buying an additional 263,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,778,000. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:PSMT traded down $0.62 on Friday, hitting $79.45. The stock had a trading volume of 184,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,014. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. PriceSmart has a 52 week low of $61.82 and a 52 week high of $86.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.59 and its 200 day moving average is $75.64. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.92.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. PriceSmart's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PSMT shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note 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.