PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

PriceSmart Stock Down 4.5 %

PSMT stock opened at $89.25 on Friday. PriceSmart has a 1-year low of $74.74 and a 1-year high of $99.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.63%. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Analysts expect that PriceSmart will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.62, for a total transaction of $358,480.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,569,076.42. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total transaction of $253,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,505,370.56. The trade was a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,463 shares of company stock worth $1,400,727. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSMT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,721,000 after acquiring an additional 74,201 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,309,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,311,000 after purchasing an additional 35,390 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,552,000 after purchasing an additional 65,492 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,085,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,175,000 after buying an additional 184,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 3.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 684,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,868,000 after buying an additional 25,216 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.