Meeder Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 313.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,037 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,085,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,175,000 after buying an additional 184,252 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,424,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,671,000 after purchasing an additional 105,405 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 18.7% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 481,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,163,000 after purchasing an additional 75,896 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 28.9% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 234,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,047,000 after purchasing an additional 52,600 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 179.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 36,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $87.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $89.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.31. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.79 and a fifty-two week high of $94.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total value of $253,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,505,370.56. This represents a 5.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total value of $59,663.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,803.50. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,960 shares of company stock worth $1,535,673. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.