Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 996 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 996 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position 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 valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position 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 valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.4 %

PSMT opened at $83.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.79 and its 200 day moving average is $90.36. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.84.

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

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 8,020 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 123,547 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $161,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,606,545. The trade was a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,162 shares of company stock worth $1,930,402. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.