PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $93.45, but opened at $82.03. PriceSmart shares last traded at $89.42, with a volume of 32,196 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

PriceSmart Stock Down 4.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 0.86.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 3,235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.96, for a total transaction of $291,020.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,309 shares in the company, valued at $3,986,037.64. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total value 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 approximately $4,505,370.56. This trade represents a 5.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,463 shares of company stock worth $1,400,727 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 423.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. 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.