Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,370,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,727 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.96% of PriceSmart worth $296,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,525,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 68.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 19.3% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 1,742 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 522.5% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 113,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 95,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 7,364.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 69,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 68,125 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th.

PriceSmart Price Performance

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $108.95 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.25 and a 12-month high of $113.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 0.77.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. PriceSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total transaction of $58,470.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,282,399.48. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart 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.