Atria Investments Inc Takes $218,000 Position in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 560.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter worth $42,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter worth $49,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in PriceSmart by 124.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PSMT opened at $116.11 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.80. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.25 and a 52 week high of $125.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 0.84.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings raised PriceSmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PriceSmart currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 10,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total transaction of $1,151,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,307,286.50. The trade was a 7.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.82, for a total transaction of $67,551.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 80,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,304 shares of company stock worth $2,297,538. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.