Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $309.14.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PRI shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,388,140.28. This trade represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total value of $65,555.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,030. This trade represents a 53.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primerica

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Primerica by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Primerica by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Primerica by 1.2% during the fourth 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 increased its stake in Primerica by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Primerica by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 421 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Primerica Stock Performance

NYSE PRI opened at $261.70 on Thursday. Primerica has a one year low of $211.53 and a one year high of $307.91. The firm's fifty day moving average is $272.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.79. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 1.03.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 31.11%. Research analysts predict that Primerica will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. This is an increase from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Primerica's dividend payout ratio is 30.25%.

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.

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