StockNews.com Upgrades PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) to “Strong-Buy”

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 100,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,742. PriceSmart has a one year low of $61.82 and a one year high of $92.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.14. 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 data on Wednesday, July 10th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that PriceSmart will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.51, for a total transaction of $350,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,904,649.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other PriceSmart news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.51, for a total value of $350,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 67,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,904,649.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total transaction of $801,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,164,793.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $2,222,192 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart in the second quarter worth about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 76.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 237.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the second quarter worth about $45,000. 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.