PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Acquired by Nitorum Capital L.P.

Nitorum Capital L.P. increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 258,617 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,954 shares during the quarter. PriceSmart accounts for 2.7% of Nitorum Capital L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Nitorum Capital L.P.’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $23,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after purchasing an additional 32,438 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in PriceSmart by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 42,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in PriceSmart by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 5,818 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 48,368.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 16,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after buying an additional 16,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 4th quarter worth about $5,030,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Down 1.7 %

PSMT stock opened at $99.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.87. 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 twelve month low of $77.51 and a twelve month high of $102.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $88.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.31.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last announced 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 earned $1.31 earnings per share. PriceSmart’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.85, for a total transaction of $90,361.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,340,483.15. This trade represents a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.40, for a total transaction of $53,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,279.20. The trade was a 40.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,376 shares of company stock valued at $789,458 in the last three months. 17.10% of the stock is currently 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.