PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• PriceSmart's shares reached a new 52-week high of $113.92 during trading, closing at $113.12, showing significant trading activity with 38,680 shares exchanged.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded PriceSmart from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, indicating confidence in the stock's future performance.
• PriceSmart reported a net margin of 2.82% and a quarterly EPS of $1.14, slightly missing analyst estimates, but showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.1%.

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $113.92 and last traded at $113.12, with a volume of 38680 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $111.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock's 50 day moving average is $106.85 and its 200 day moving average is $98.27.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). The business 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%. PriceSmart's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $208,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,144. This trade represents a 15.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.78, for a total transaction of $40,084.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $953,695.62. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,940 shares of company stock valued at $306,555 in the last three months. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 70.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 73,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,763,000 after purchasing an additional 30,417 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 26,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,438,000 after acquiring an additional 11,797 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in PriceSmart by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,952 shares of the company's stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 2,209 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,204,566 shares of the company's stock worth $111,025,000 after buying an additional 21,827 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

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.

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