PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) COO John D. Hildebrandt Sells 6,000 Shares

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 6,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.92, for a total transaction of $491,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 140,485 shares in the company, valued at $11,508,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded down $1.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 214,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,070. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.92. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.82 and a 52 week high of $86.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. PriceSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.