Paul Kovaleski Sells 1,176 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 1,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.72, for a total value of $96,102.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,314. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT traded up $0.75 on Wednesday, hitting $81.34. The company had a trading volume of 13,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,294. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.82 and a 52-week high of $86.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.99 and a 200 day moving average of $76.18. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PriceSmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in PriceSmart by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,177,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,489,000 after purchasing an additional 133,814 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 63,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,749,000 after buying an additional 19,311 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,102,000 after buying an additional 18,249 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of PriceSmart by 114.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,692,000 after buying an additional 263,016 shares during the period. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in PriceSmart in the third quarter valued at $4,778,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PSMT has been the topic of several research reports. TheStreet raised PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th.

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.