Strs Ohio Sells 2,600 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Strs Ohio cut its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PSMT. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in PriceSmart by 235.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in PriceSmart by 93.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in PriceSmart by 0.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 94,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,060,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in PriceSmart by 18.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP bought a new position in PriceSmart in the third quarter valued at about $4,778,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PSMT opened at $80.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.95 and a 200-day moving average of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.82 and a 1 year high of $86.90.

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

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.