Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases New Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 8,020 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.51, for a total value of $725,890.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 123,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,182,238.97. This trade represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of PriceSmart 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Price Performance

PSMT stock opened at $83.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.84. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $99.23.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio 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.