PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 2.60%. PriceSmart’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS.

PriceSmart Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $80.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart has a 12 month low of $61.82 and a 12 month high of $87.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.25 and a 200-day moving average of $80.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.08, for a total value of $430,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,087,233.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.08, for a total value of $430,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,087,233.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,125 shares of company stock valued at $2,175,282. Insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in PriceSmart by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 11,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 43.4% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 63,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,749,000 after acquiring an additional 19,311 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 43.9% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 114.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,692,000 after purchasing an additional 263,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PriceSmart by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,177,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,489,000 after purchasing an additional 133,814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PSMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

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.