PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.96. The company had a trading volume of 177,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,001. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. PriceSmart has a fifty-two week low of $66.95 and a fifty-two week high of $94.82.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that PriceSmart will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total value of $59,663.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,803.50. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 3,235 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.96, for a total value of $291,020.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,986,037.64. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,960 shares of company stock valued at $1,535,673 over the last quarter. 18.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the first quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in PriceSmart by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in PriceSmart by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,424,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,671,000 after purchasing an additional 105,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in PriceSmart by 237.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.