Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $309.86.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th.

Primerica Price Performance

NYSE PRI opened at $278.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $284.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.40. Primerica has a fifty-two week low of $184.76 and a fifty-two week high of $307.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 1.12.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Primerica will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,852.90. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total value of $65,555.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,030. The trade was a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Primerica

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRI. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Primerica by 3.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Primerica Company Profile

Primerica, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services to middle-income households in the United States and Canada. The company operates in four segments: Term Life Insurance; Investment and Savings Products; Senior Health; and Corporate and Other Distributed Products.