Cerity Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 3,592 PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $158,000. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $81.49 on Monday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.82 and a 52 week high of $86.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.92.

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

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $697,643.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

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.