South Dakota Investment Council Invests $654,000 in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.7% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,721,000 after purchasing an additional 74,201 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 5.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,552,000 after buying an additional 65,492 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PriceSmart by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 684,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,868,000 after buying an additional 25,216 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,302,000 after acquiring an additional 140,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 438,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,247,000 after acquiring an additional 15,245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $89.68 on Monday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.51 and a 52 week high of $99.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $91.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.17. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,606,545. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $5,213,503.47. This trade represents a 6.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.