PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Stake Raised by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,435 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 227.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after buying an additional 32,438 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $5,030,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PriceSmart by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 5,818 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 42,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,942,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 18,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 5,315 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,606,545. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.74, for a total transaction of $54,857.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,825,400.92. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,346 shares of company stock valued at $325,723 in the last three months. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $104.45 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.51 and a 1-year high of $106.55.

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

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 1.2%. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.92%.

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.