Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys 300 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 1.9% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $89,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,202,000. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total value of $801,515.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,164,793.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 795 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.65, for a total transaction of $69,681.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,027 shares in the company, valued at $703,566.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total value of $801,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,164,793.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,747,051 in the last 90 days. 18.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $90.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.82 and a 12-month high of $92.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.99.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 10th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.