Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Primerica (NYSE:PRI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Primerica from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Primerica from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Primerica from $239.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Friday, August 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $283.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Primerica from $257.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Primerica presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $275.20.

Primerica Price Performance

PRI stock opened at $263.17 on Wednesday. Primerica has a 1-year low of $184.76 and a 1-year high of $267.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $255.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.09.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.47 by $0.24. Primerica had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 27.81%. The business had revenue of $803.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Primerica will post 17.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.91%.

Insider Transactions at Primerica

In related news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.55, for a total value of $757,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,446,071.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.55, for a total transaction of $757,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,446,071.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.85, for a total transaction of $507,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,846,081.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,500 shares of company stock worth $1,657,015. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Primerica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRI. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 1.4% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,237,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,688,000 after purchasing an additional 17,095 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Primerica by 30,726.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,102,000 after buying an additional 678,752 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Primerica by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 663,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,580,000 after buying an additional 9,923 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Primerica by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 637,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,880,000 after buying an additional 21,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Primerica by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 218,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

About Primerica

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.