PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Holdings Raised by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,108 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,703 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 0.94% of PriceSmart worth $26,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 393.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ PSMT opened at $85.23 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.51 and a 12 month high of $99.23. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 8,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.51, for a total transaction of $725,890.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 123,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,182,238.97. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total value of $96,552.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $598,503.64. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. Company insiders own 17.10% 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.