Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Stock Price Up 0.9% – Still a Buy?

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $278.66 and last traded at $278.33. Approximately 149,564 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 155,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Primerica presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.33.

Primerica Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.23. The firm has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 1.11.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $774.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.25 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 14.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.50%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.27, for a total value of $903,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,942,728.94. This represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Primerica by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,237,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,688,000 after buying an additional 17,095 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 3.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $161,102,000 after purchasing an additional 678,752 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Primerica by 3.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 21,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Primerica by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 121,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,176,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323 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.