First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 804,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,855 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.62% of PriceSmart worth $84,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its position in PriceSmart by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,140,000 after buying an additional 3,039 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 20.5% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 30,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 5,163 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in PriceSmart by 24.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 356,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,326,000 after acquiring an additional 69,248 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $13,307,286.50. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $67,551.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 80,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,460 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,968. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PSMT shares. Wall Street Zen cut PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $127.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $120.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.25 and a 52 week high of $129.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55 and a beta of 0.76.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.08). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart 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.