Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes $171,000 Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total value of $50,183.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at $7,143,903.36. This trade 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 through this link. Also, 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 value of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,606,545. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402 over the last quarter. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $83.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $89.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.51 and a 12-month high of $99.23.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) 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). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

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.