Jeffrey Fisher Sells 5,000 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,730,823. The trade was a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $94.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $99.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $92.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89 and a beta of 0.85.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. PriceSmart’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PriceSmart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 2.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter worth $124,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 96.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 30.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

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.