Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 996 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 996 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PSMT. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PriceSmart by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,302,000 after buying an additional 140,515 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in PriceSmart by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,721,000 after buying an additional 74,201 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,552,000 after purchasing an additional 65,492 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $5,030,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 32,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock opened at $83.53 on Monday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $99.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.79 and a 200-day moving average of $90.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. PriceSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,143,903.36. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total transaction of $358,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,503.47. The trade was a 6.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

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.