Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stake in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,863 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.10% of Primerica worth $8,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 696,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,807,000 after acquiring an additional 25,951 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,635 shares during the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at about $543,000. Oak Thistle LLC increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Primerica by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 120,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,573,000 after buying an additional 11,612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 note on Friday, February 28th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Primerica in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Primerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.86.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of PRI stock opened at $284.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $285.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.12. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.76 and a 1 year high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) 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 the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,388,140.28. This trade represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,030. The trade was a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Primerica 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.