PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $92.93 and last traded at $92.93, with a volume of 37672 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $89.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

PriceSmart Stock Up 3.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.25.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 2.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total transaction of $59,663.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,803.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other PriceSmart news, EVP David R. Price sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.85, for a total transaction of $175,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,547,818.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total transaction of $59,663.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,803.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,904 shares of company stock worth $1,806,714 in the last three months. Insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in PriceSmart during the third quarter valued at about $124,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.2% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 103,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,430,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in PriceSmart by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 84,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,889,000 after acquiring an additional 8,266 shares during the last quarter. 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.