South Dakota Investment Council Takes $654,000 Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in PriceSmart by 423.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,041 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $124,000. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total value of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total value of $96,552.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,503.64. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $89.68 on Monday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.51 and a 52 week high of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm's fifty day moving average is $91.57 and its 200-day moving average is $90.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.85.

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

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

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.

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