Insider Selling: PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Sells 1,305 Shares of Stock

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 1,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.55, for a total transaction of $149,487.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,109 shares in the company, valued at $4,938,135.95. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $115.85. 130,922 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 230,596. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44 and a beta of 0.84. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.25 and a 52-week high of $125.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.08). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 914.7% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 53,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 48,588 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 665.0% in the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 38,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,401,000 after purchasing an additional 33,651 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $680,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new position in PriceSmart during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PSMT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

PriceSmart Company 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.