Insider Selling: PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $120,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,931,864.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT opened at $81.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.98 and a 200-day moving average of $76.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly 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. 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 EPS for the current 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 paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 valued at $36,692,000 after acquiring an additional 263,016 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,319,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,533,000 after acquiring an additional 141,920 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,951,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 4th quarter valued at $7,738,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2,132.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 88,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 84,073 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.