PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Trading 3.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)’s stock price rose 3.1% on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $90.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. PriceSmart traded as high as $80.72 and last traded at $80.61. Approximately 34,409 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 153,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.20.

PSMT has been the topic of a number of other reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th.

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 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 approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $697,643.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in PriceSmart by 175.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 103,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,178,000 after purchasing an additional 65,984 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in PriceSmart by 1.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 301,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,806,000 after purchasing an additional 4,066 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 43.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 4,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Trading Up 1.3 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.76. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21 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.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

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.