Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Primerica (NYSE:PRI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $314.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Primerica in a research report on Friday, August 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $283.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Primerica from $257.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.33.

Primerica Stock Performance

NYSE:PRI opened at $301.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 1.08. Primerica has a fifty-two week low of $184.76 and a fifty-two week high of $304.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.40.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $774.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.25 million. Primerica had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 30.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Primerica will post 19.12 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.50%.

Primerica announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to buyback $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.11, for a total transaction of $391,665.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 10,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,678,727.49. This trade represents a 12.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.85, for a total transaction of $507,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,846,081.35. This trade represents a 11.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,803,175. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Primerica by 2.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Primerica by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Primerica by 3.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Primerica by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 696,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,807,000 after purchasing an additional 25,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in Primerica by 7.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 6,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.