PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $93.45, but opened at $82.03. PriceSmart shares last traded at $89.42, with a volume of 32,196 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 30th.

PriceSmart Trading Down 3.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.86.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued 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 12.63% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.62, for a total value of $358,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,569,076.42. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total value of $497,566.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,106.18. This trade represents a 20.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,463 shares of company stock valued at $1,400,727 over the last 90 days. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 227.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after purchasing an additional 32,438 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 18.4% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,627,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 1.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,873,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Managed Asset Portfolios LLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Managed Asset Portfolios LLC now owns 81,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,493,000 after purchasing an additional 11,546 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 63,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,183,000 after purchasing an additional 10,673 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.