PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Sells $85,011.00 in Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $697,643.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.5 %

PSMT stock opened at $79.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $86.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,177,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,489,000 after acquiring an additional 133,814 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 43.4% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 63,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 19,311 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 77.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 18,249 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 114.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,692,000 after purchasing an additional 263,016 shares during the period. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in PriceSmart in the third quarter worth about $4,778,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

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.