PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $109.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. PriceSmart has a fifty-two week low of $81.25 and a fifty-two week high of $114.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $108.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.52.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PriceSmart will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total transaction of $58,470.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 354,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,695,000 after purchasing an additional 40,927 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,296,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 22,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 7,040 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

About PriceSmart

(Get Free Report)

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.

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