Brokerages Set Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Price Target at $308.00

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $308.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on PRI. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Primerica from $274.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In related news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $56,030. This trade represents a 53.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 13,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,762,852.90. The trade was a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 37,994 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised 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 worth $372,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21,546 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Primerica by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 779,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $211,691,000 after purchasing an additional 82,921 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 worth $173,963,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primerica during the 1st quarter worth approximately $156,019,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of PRI stock traded up $1.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $269.93. 46,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,224. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $266.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.02. Primerica has a 12-month low of $219.52 and a 12-month high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $5.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $803.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $783.54 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Primerica will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Primerica's payout ratio is currently 27.98%.

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.