12,500 Shares in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 5.1% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 9,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet raised PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $80.17 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.82 and a 12-month high of $86.90. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

PriceSmart 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.