Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Stock Holdings in Primerica, Inc. $PRI

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Primerica, Inc. by 2.4% in Q1, owning approximately $40.96 million worth of shares.
• Primerica reported $5.46 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $796.02 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.04 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $4.16 with a yield of 1.5%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.43% of Primerica worth $40,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $994,048,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Primerica by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,310,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $372,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21,546 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Primerica by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 611,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $173,963,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Primerica during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $156,019,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 39,199.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,132,000 after purchasing an additional 442,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of PRI stock traded down $2.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $266.63. The stock had a trading volume of 145,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 147,397. Primerica, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.98 and a 12-month high of $307.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $266.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.13.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.28. Primerica had a return on equity of 32.42% and a net margin of 21.48%.The business had revenue of $796.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $790.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 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 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Primerica's dividend payout ratio is 20.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Primerica from $293.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Primerica from $292.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Primerica

In related news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.20, for a total transaction of $655,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 36,392 shares in the company, valued at $9,541,982.40. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.