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

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $300.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRI. Piper Sandler set a $292.00 price target on shares of Primerica and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Primerica from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Primerica in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Primerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $292.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $292.00 price target on Primerica in a research note on Monday.

Primerica Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Primerica stock opened at $257.88 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $259.40 and a 200 day moving average of $265.04. Primerica has a 52 week low of $230.98 and a 52 week high of $298.75. The company has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.12%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 19th that allows the company to repurchase $475.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other Primerica news, Director Joel M. Babbit sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,142,000. This trade represents a 7.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 2,500 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.65, for a total transaction of $649,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 33,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,800,057.80. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,200 shares of company stock valued at $1,338,225 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Primerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRI. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Primerica during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Primerica by 186.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Primerica during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primerica in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Primerica in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. 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.