PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Separately, TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $83.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64 and a beta of 0.92. PriceSmart has a 1-year low of $61.82 and a 1-year high of $84.93.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 10th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.53% and a return on equity of 11.92%. PriceSmart’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PriceSmart will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. PriceSmart’s payout ratio is 31.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PriceSmart

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 13,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% 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.