Royce & Associates LP Has $1.93 Million Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,922 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,172 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PSMT. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in PriceSmart during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 3,905.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 17,300.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in PriceSmart by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $84.20 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.51 and a 1 year high of $99.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.22.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued 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 business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.75%.

Insider Activity

In other PriceSmart news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total value of $358,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 58,141 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,503.47. This trade represents a 6.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 8,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.51, for a total transaction of $725,890.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 123,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,182,238.97. This trade represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.