American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 48,108 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,230,696 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 48,108 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 4.01% of PriceSmart worth $113,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company's stock worth $258,721,000 after acquiring an additional 74,201 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 5.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company's stock worth $108,552,000 after buying an additional 65,492 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 684,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,868,000 after acquiring an additional 25,216 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,302,000 after purchasing an additional 140,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PriceSmart by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 453,876 shares of the company's stock worth $41,834,000 after purchasing an additional 15,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

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PriceSmart Trading Down 0.5 %

PSMT stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.52. 54,478 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 170,061. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85 and a beta of 0.84. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $99.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.07 and a 200-day moving average of $90.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total value 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 $7,143,903.36. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total value of $96,552.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,862 shares in the company, valued at $598,503.64. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.