Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Short Interest Up 19.7% in March

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 633,400 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the March 15th total of 529,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 174,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This trade represents a 8.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,030. The trade was a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRI. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Primerica by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,288,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $349,717,000 after purchasing an additional 21,208 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 valued at $211,691,000 after buying an additional 82,921 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $126,132,000 after acquiring an additional 442,170 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Primerica by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 347,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $94,194,000 after acquiring an additional 46,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Primerica by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Primerica Stock Performance

Primerica stock traded down $3.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $260.26. 24,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 158,211. Primerica has a 52 week low of $211.53 and a 52 week high of $307.91. The firm has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.03. The company's fifty day moving average is $273.41 and its 200-day moving average is $281.13.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Primerica will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PRI shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Primerica has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.14.

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.