Two Sigma Securities LLC Takes Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PRI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Primerica in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Primerica by 129.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Primerica by 116.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 214 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Primerica by 65.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 182.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 254 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Primerica news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,852.90. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,030. The trade was 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. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PRI. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Primerica in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.14.

Primerica Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PRI traded down $4.18 on Thursday, reaching $257.89. 275,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 158,355. Primerica, Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.53 and a 52 week high of $307.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $272.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 31.11%. Sell-side analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. This is a boost from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica's payout ratio is currently 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.