Primerica, Inc. $PRI Stock Position Increased by Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,333,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,454 shares during the quarter. Primerica makes up about 3.6% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned about 4.12% of Primerica worth $364,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Primerica by 3.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,493,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,048,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica during the first quarter worth $208,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 2,300.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Primerica by 30.5% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Primerica Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE PRI opened at $253.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $262.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.74. Primerica, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.98 and a 52 week high of $298.75.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $6.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.52 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $838.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $817.81 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 22.36%.Primerica’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $475.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Primerica’s payout ratio is 19.12%.

Insider Transactions at Primerica

In other Primerica news, Director Joel M. Babbit sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $178,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,142,000. The trade was a 7.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.30, for a total transaction of $510,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 7,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,945.30. This represents a 21.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,200 shares of company stock worth $1,338,225. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Primerica in a report on Monday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised Primerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $292.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Primerica from $293.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Primerica from $306.00 to $301.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Primerica currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.80.

Primerica 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.