PriceSmart's (PSMT) "Buy (B)" Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• The stock of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) has received a reaffirmed "Buy (B)" rating from Weiss Ratings, despite a recent downgrade to "Hold" by Wall Street Zen.
• PriceSmart reported quarterly earnings of $1.14 per share, falling short of the $1.16 consensus estimate, though revenue increased by 7.1% compared to the previous year.
• Insider activity includes sales by executives Michael Mccleary and Francisco Velasco, with Mccleary selling nearly 10,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their positions in the company.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of PriceSmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, PriceSmart has a consensus rating of "Buy".

PriceSmart Price Performance

PSMT stock opened at $121.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50-day moving average is $113.47 and its 200-day moving average is $105.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. PriceSmart has a 1 year low of $81.25 and a 1 year high of $124.59.

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

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Michael Mccleary sold 9,754 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.62, for a total transaction of $1,078,987.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,208,210.84. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.82, for a total transaction of $67,551.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PriceSmart

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,194 shares of the company's stock worth $11,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,785 shares of the company's stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,276 shares of the company's stock worth $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 782,353 shares of the company's stock worth $68,730,000 after purchasing an additional 160,656 shares during the last quarter. 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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