American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,401,706 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100,785 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 4.56% of PriceSmart worth $147,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PSMT. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3.1% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 21,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2,237.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 11,592 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 12.8% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 33,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 3,812 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PriceSmart Trading Down 0.9%

PSMT opened at $117.57 on Tuesday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.25 and a 12-month high of $125.48. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $119.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.67.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%.PriceSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 10,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total value of $1,151,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 115,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,307,286.50. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $99,941.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,768.32. This trade represents a 10.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,460 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,968. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PSMT shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

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.