Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 70,410.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 282,040 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 281,640 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $25,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,230,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,434,000 after purchasing an additional 48,108 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,204,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,025,000 after purchasing an additional 21,827 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PriceSmart by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 692,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,874,000 after buying an additional 7,994 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,302,000 after buying an additional 140,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 453,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,834,000 after buying an additional 15,359 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $93.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.87. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.51 and a 52 week high of $99.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.93 and a 200 day moving average of $90.06.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,606,545. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,055 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,849 over the last quarter. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.