Insider Selling: PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Sells 1,176 Shares of Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 1,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.72, for a total value of $96,102.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,314. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

PriceSmart Price Performance

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $82.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.92. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $86.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is 29.15%.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on PSMT shares. TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th.

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.