Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Has $1.52 Million Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 75.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Primerica were worth $1,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mariner LLC raised its position in Primerica by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Primerica by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Primerica by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Primerica by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Primerica by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PRI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Primerica from $274.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.00.

Primerica Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of PRI traded up $2.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $265.90. 148,430 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 155,720. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $265.66 and a 200 day moving average of $274.35. Primerica, Inc. has a one year low of $230.98 and a one year high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $803.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.54 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 32.30% and a net margin of 15.82%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Primerica's dividend payout ratio is 27.98%.

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.