Amundi Increases Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Amundi increased its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 185.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,644 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,217 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in PriceSmart were worth $1,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in PriceSmart by 393.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in PriceSmart by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the business'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 value of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,606,545. The trade was a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,143,903.36. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PSMT stock traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.71. 1,758,052 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 169,606. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $89.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.18. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.51 and a 12-month high of $99.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.84. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. PriceSmart's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is 27.75%.

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.