State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Buys 6,279 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,651 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.12% of PriceSmart worth $2,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 5.1% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 2.5% during the third quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PSMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $74,828.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,512 shares of company stock worth $280,620. 18.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.6 %

PSMT opened at $81.97 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.13. PriceSmart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.82 and a twelve month high of $86.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is 29.15%.

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.