New York State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 300 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,554 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 114.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 492,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,692,000 after acquiring an additional 263,016 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 6.1% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,592,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,281,000 after acquiring an additional 148,758 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 4.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,177,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,489,000 after acquiring an additional 133,814 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the third quarter valued at about $7,951,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 75.4% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 242,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,992,000 after acquiring an additional 104,454 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $85,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,643.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $74,828.82. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,404.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.3 %

PriceSmart stock opened at $80.42 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $86.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PSMT. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th.

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.