Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Shares Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $276.65 and last traded at $277.36. 10,204 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 137,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $280.40.

Specifically, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total value of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Primerica in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Primerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $311.14.

Primerica Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $281.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.58. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. Sell-side analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.18%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Primerica during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,191,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 254.5% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,558,000 after acquiring an additional 83,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 82,921 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 131,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,655,000 after acquiring an additional 60,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Primerica by 2,508.8% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 57,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,606,000 after buying an additional 55,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.