Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 654 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,922 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,177,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,489,000 after acquiring an additional 133,814 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 63,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 19,311 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 18,249 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,692,000 after purchasing an additional 263,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,778,000. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other PriceSmart news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at $636,404.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $85,011.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,643.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PSMT shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $81.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.89. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.82 and a 1 year high of $86.90.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is 29.15%.

PriceSmart Company 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.