Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 17,921 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its holdings in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 25.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,921 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in PriceSmart were worth $5,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 560.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the first quarter worth $42,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the second quarter worth $53,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the first quarter worth $49,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 24.3% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PriceSmart Stock Down 6.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT opened at $114.94 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $81.25 and a one year high of $125.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $117.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25 and a beta of 0.83.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released 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 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Mccleary sold 9,754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.62, for a total transaction of $1,078,987.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,208,210.84. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.82, for a total value of $67,551.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

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.