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

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $308.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PRI shares. Wall Street Zen cut Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Primerica from $274.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Primerica Price Performance

PRI opened at $266.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.77. Primerica has a 1-year low of $219.52 and a 1-year high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $5.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $803.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $783.54 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that Primerica will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total value of $65,555.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,030. This trade represents a 53.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total value of $565,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,852.90. This trade represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Primerica by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,493,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,048,000 after buying an additional 37,994 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Primerica by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,310,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,740,000 after buying an additional 21,546 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Primerica by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 779,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,691,000 after buying an additional 82,921 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Primerica by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 611,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,963,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primerica in the 1st quarter worth $156,019,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.