Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Boosts Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. increased its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 235.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its position in PriceSmart by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 4,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,805 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in PriceSmart by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 94,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,060,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in PriceSmart by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $74,828.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,404.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,643.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ PSMT traded up $0.67 on Tuesday, hitting $81.58. 174,383 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 159,279. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.89. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.82 and a fifty-two week high of $86.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.92.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.62%. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PSMT. StockNews.com cut PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. TheStreet upgraded PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

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.