Boston Partners Raises Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Boston Partners grew its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 313,231 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,022 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 1.02% of PriceSmart worth $33,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PSMT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in PriceSmart in the 1st quarter valued at $36,685,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in PriceSmart during the second quarter valued at $18,313,000. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter valued at about $13,109,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 353.9% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 169,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,929,000 after purchasing an additional 132,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 7.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,236,000 after purchasing an additional 100,785 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PSMT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

PriceSmart Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of PriceSmart stock opened at $123.98 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 0.84. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.25 and a 1-year high of $126.70.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.08). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. PriceSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 851 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $99,941.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,768.32. The trade was a 10.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,460 shares of company stock worth $2,546,968. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.