Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Reaches New 12-Month High at $254.44

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $254.44 and last traded at $254.44, with a volume of 37414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $250.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Primerica from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Primerica from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Primerica from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $243.20.

Primerica Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $242.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.02.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $726.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.64 million. Primerica had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is 18.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Primerica

In other news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total transaction of $922,571.37. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 3,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total value of $922,571.37. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 3,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.81, for a total transaction of $58,455.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,981. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,677. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRI. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Primerica by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,907,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,962,000 after buying an additional 24,125 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Primerica by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,277,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,529,000 after purchasing an additional 12,990 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at $210,472,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Primerica by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,112,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,174,000 after purchasing an additional 6,390 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Primerica by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 811,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,142,000 after purchasing an additional 174,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.