Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 6,789 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,789 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PSMT. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 438,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,247,000 after purchasing an additional 15,245 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 13.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PriceSmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,275,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 65,492 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total transaction of $96,552.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,503.64. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $161,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,606,545. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $86.05 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.51 and a 52 week high of $99.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $88.99 and a 200-day moving average of $90.17.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

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.