PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,572 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in PriceSmart were worth $7,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $598,503.64. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total transaction of $358,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,503.47. The trade was a 6.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PSMT opened at $83.71 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.51 and a twelve month high of $99.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.19.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released 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). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.75%.

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.