Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $947,000 Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $158,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 4th quarter worth about $272,000. Finally, Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $268,000. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.49. 182,114 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 159,680. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.82 and a 1 year high of $86.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 0.92. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.92 and a 200 day moving average of $76.00.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 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 firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 29.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PSMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of PriceSmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th.

About PriceSmart

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.