PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Up 3.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)’s share price was up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $90.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. PriceSmart traded as high as $80.72 and last traded at $80.61. 34,409 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 153,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.20.

PSMT has been the topic of a number of other reports. TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PriceSmart news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other PriceSmart news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $85,011.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $697,643.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PriceSmart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in PriceSmart by 30,300.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 331.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

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.