Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.02 Million Investment in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,016,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PRI. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primerica during the third quarter worth about $25,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Primerica in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Primerica by 74.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 255 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Primerica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Primerica from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James cut Primerica from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Primerica from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Primerica Price Performance

Primerica stock traded down $1.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $210.20. 1,706,715 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 155,147. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.63. Primerica, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $173.00 and a fifty-two week high of $256.56.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.27 by ($0.02). Primerica had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The company had revenue of $726.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Primerica, Inc. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Primerica's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $365,115.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,227,373.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Primerica news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total value of $922,571.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $365,115.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 13,259 shares in the company, valued at $3,227,373.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,708 shares of company stock worth $1,648,677 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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.