Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 128 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3,905.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $85.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $99.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.07 and its 200 day moving average is $90.19.

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 firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total transaction of $358,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,503.47. The trade was a 6.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total transaction of $96,552.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,862 shares in the company, valued at $598,503.64. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402 over the last ninety days. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.