PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT Shares Purchased by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 29.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,176 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 665.0% during the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 38,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after buying an additional 33,651 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 914.7% during the 1st quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 53,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 48,588 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $680,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 59.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 740,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,812,000 after purchasing an additional 13,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PSMT. Wall Street Zen lowered PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PSMT opened at $123.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.12. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.25 and a fifty-two week high of $126.70.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.08). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.82, for a total value of $67,551.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 80,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total transaction of $1,151,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,307,286.50. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,460 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,968. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.