Dark Forest Capital Management LP Buys New Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 536.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the fourth 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 raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 896 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.85, for a total transaction of $90,361.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,039 shares in the company, valued at $4,340,483.15. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,730,823. This trade represents a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,376 shares of company stock worth $789,458. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PSMT opened at $99.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.30. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $102.47.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is 26.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.