Boston Partners Has $27.34 Million Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Boston Partners increased its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 4,690.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 297,655 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 291,442 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.97% of PriceSmart worth $27,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in PriceSmart by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the company's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,614 shares of the company's stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in PriceSmart by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in PriceSmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 51,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,719,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

PriceSmart Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT traded up $2.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $85.91. 183,413 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 170,089. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.21.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. PriceSmart's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total transaction of $96,552.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,503.64. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402 over the last 90 days. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PriceSmart Company 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.