PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• PriceSmart shares reached a new 52-week high of $114.01 during trading, reflecting a significant increase in stock performance, closing at $112.87.
• Wall Street Zen upgraded PriceSmart shares from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, indicating growing investor confidence in the company's prospects.
• Recent earnings showed revenue growth of 7.1% year-over-year, despite missing EPS expectations by $0.02, highlighting ongoing operational strength.

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $114.01 and last traded at $112.87, with a volume of 29733 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $112.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The business's fifty day moving average price is $107.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.30.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,282,399.48. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSMT. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in PriceSmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $591,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 536.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the company's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,305,698 shares of the company's stock worth $120,345,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the company's stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.