Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Trading 0.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) shares shot up 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $285.36 and last traded at $284.70. 12,231 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 134,294 shares. The stock had previously closed at $283.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRI. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.00.

Primerica Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $285.92 and its 200-day moving average is $269.21.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.87. The business had revenue of $774.13 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 19.55 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.50%.

Primerica declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to repurchase $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In related news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.27, for a total value of $903,810.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,942,728.94. This trade represents a 7.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Primerica by 30,726.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,102,000 after purchasing an additional 678,752 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Primerica by 2,986.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 32,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,595,000 after buying an additional 31,064 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Primerica by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 696,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,807,000 after buying an additional 25,951 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Primerica by 359,742.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 25,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,679,000 after acquiring an additional 25,182 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Primerica by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 637,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,880,000 after acquiring an additional 21,836 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.