Boston Partners Boosts Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 4,690.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,655 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 291,442 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.97% of PriceSmart worth $27,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PSMT. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3,905.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $7,143,903.36. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $598,503.64. This 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. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $85.25 on Thursday. 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 $89.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.26. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 0.84. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.51 and a 12 month high of $99.23.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.