Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.37 EPS

Key Points

• Primerica reported quarterly EPS of $6.77, beating the $6.40 consensus by $0.37 and rising from $6.33 a year earlier. Revenue was $901.82 million, slightly above estimates of $901.00 million.
• Shares rose 1.5% to $284.44 on Wednesday following the results.
• Analysts maintain a consensus Hold rating, with an average price target of $318.80; company insiders sold 3,579 shares worth about $1.13 million over the past 90 days.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $6.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.40 by $0.37, FiscalAI reports. Primerica had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $901.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $901.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.33 EPS.

Primerica Stock Up 1.5%

PRI stock traded up $4.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $284.44. The company had a trading volume of 259,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,262. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.86. Primerica has a 52-week low of $230.09 and a 52-week high of $327.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.77.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other Primerica news, President Peter Schneider sold 1,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.65, for a total value of $562,770.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 8,011 shares in the company, valued at $2,504,639.15. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn Williams sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.20, for a total transaction of $480,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 32,196 shares in the company, valued at $10,309,159.20. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,579 shares of company stock worth $1,130,573 in the last 90 days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PRI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Primerica from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Primerica from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Primerica from $322.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Primerica from $266.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Primerica from $291.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $318.80.

About Primerica

Primerica, Inc is a financial services company that focuses on serving middle-income households in the United States and Canada, as well as families in Puerto Rico. The company distributes its products and services through a network of independent representatives who provide financial education and help clients address protection, savings and investment needs.

Primerica's principal offerings include term life insurance, investment and savings products, retirement planning solutions, and strategies for managing debt.

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