State of Wyoming Lowers Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

State of Wyoming trimmed its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 65.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $54,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 68.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 522.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 7,364.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart 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 value of $58,470.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Down 1.1%

PriceSmart stock opened at $110.79 on Wednesday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.25 and a fifty-two week high of $114.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $108.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37 and a beta of 0.79.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share 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.