BlackRock Inc. Has $225.17 Million Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

BlackRock Inc. lowered its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT – Get Rating) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,909,940 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,686 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned about 12.65% of PriceSmart worth $225,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,783,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,560,000 after acquiring an additional 54,019 shares during the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,635,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,165,000 after purchasing an additional 96,803 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,424,000 after purchasing an additional 39,610 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,136,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,443,000 after purchasing an additional 34,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 930,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,651,000 after buying an additional 47,850 shares during the last quarter. 80.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PriceSmart stock opened at $67.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.34. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.29 and a 1 year high of $88.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.86.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 9th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 10.86%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rodrigo Calvo sold 1,521 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.98, for a total transaction of $111,002.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,721.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 9,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.45, for a total transaction of $635,318.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,279,935.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rodrigo Calvo sold 1,521 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.98, for a total transaction of $111,002.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,721.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,703 shares of company stock valued at $3,656,453. 17.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PSMT shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th.

About PriceSmart

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PriceSmart, Inc engages in the business of managing membership shopping warehouse club concepts to emerging and developing countries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States Operations, Central American Operations, Caribbean Operations, and Colombia Operations. The Central America Operations segment includes Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.