PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $93.40 and last traded at $93.38, with a volume of 21605 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP David R. Price sold 2,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.85, for a total transaction of $175,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,547,818.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In other PriceSmart news, EVP David R. Price sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.85, for a total value of $175,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,547,818.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 827 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.03, for a total transaction of $75,281.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 84,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,681,566.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,292 shares of company stock worth $730,367 in the last quarter. 18.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PriceSmart

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,319,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,533,000 after acquiring an additional 141,920 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,420,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 249.0% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in PriceSmart by 201.5% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 13,614 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PriceSmart

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.