Wall Street Zen Upgrades PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

PriceSmart Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ PSMT traded down $0.58 on Friday, reaching $107.40. The company had a trading volume of 278,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 192,627. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66 and a beta of 0.75. PriceSmart has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $109.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PriceSmart will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.78, for a total transaction of $40,084.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $953,695.62. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.74, for a total value of $54,857.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,825,400.92. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,836 shares of company stock worth $1,005,273. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,287,000 after buying an additional 32,438 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.