Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 6,480 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 235,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,480 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.77% of PriceSmart worth $21,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in PriceSmart by 2.7% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,721,000 after purchasing an additional 74,201 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,552,000 after buying an additional 65,492 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 684,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,868,000 after buying an additional 25,216 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,302,000 after acquiring an additional 140,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 438,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,247,000 after acquiring an additional 15,245 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday.

PriceSmart Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $87.87 on Tuesday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.51.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,143,903.36. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total transaction of $96,552.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,503.64. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402 over the last 90 days. 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.