Francisco Velasco Sells 550 Shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.82, for a total value of $67,551.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 80,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $118.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.25 and a 12-month high of $124.59.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pertento Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,224,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter worth $36,685,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 54.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 551,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,936,000 after purchasing an additional 194,980 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in PriceSmart during the second quarter worth $18,313,000. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in PriceSmart by 25.8% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 782,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,730,000 after purchasing an additional 160,656 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “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.