Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Has $40.54 Million Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC cut its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 439,811 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,544 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 1.43% of PriceSmart worth $40,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PriceSmart by 536.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in PriceSmart during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 393.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.40, for a total value of $53,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,279.20. This represents a 40.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,480 shares of company stock worth $699,096 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ PSMT traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.98. The company had a trading volume of 294,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,648. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.87. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $102.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.25.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is 26.92%.

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.