19,623 Shares in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in PriceSmart by 665.0% during the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 38,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 33,651 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 914.7% in the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 53,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 48,588 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 59.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the second quarter worth $680,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in PriceSmart by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PSMT. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 1,305 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.55, for a total transaction of $149,487.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,109 shares in the company, valued at $4,938,135.95. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Mccleary sold 9,754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.62, for a total transaction of $1,078,987.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,082 shares in the company, valued at $5,208,210.84. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 22,460 shares of company stock worth $2,546,968 over the last three months. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.0%

PriceSmart stock opened at $116.05 on Thursday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.25 and a fifty-two week high of $125.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.08). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%.The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.