PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

PriceSmart Stock Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $85.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.55. PriceSmart has a one year low of $64.41 and a one year high of $94.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.20.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that PriceSmart will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.03, for a total transaction of $75,281.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 84,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,681,566.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PriceSmart by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,424,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,671,000 after purchasing an additional 105,405 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in PriceSmart by 1.2% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,744,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,872,000 after purchasing an additional 31,263 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in PriceSmart by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,309,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,311,000 after purchasing an additional 35,390 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in PriceSmart by 20.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,085,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,175,000 after purchasing an additional 184,252 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 18.7% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 481,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,163,000 after purchasing an additional 75,896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% 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.