Raymond James Financial Inc. Raises Position in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 794.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,343 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,930 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of PriceSmart worth $5,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 5.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,300,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,286,000 after buying an additional 70,225 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 22.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 46,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 8,316 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 3.1% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 13,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 300,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $109.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.21. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $81.25 and a one year high of $114.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.79.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

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.