Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica (NYSE:PRI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

PRI has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.14.

Primerica Stock Performance

PRI stock opened at $290.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.53. Primerica has a 52 week low of $184.76 and a 52 week high of $307.91. The stock has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 1.11.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.87. The business had revenue of $774.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.25 million. Primerica had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Primerica’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Primerica will post 19.79 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.50%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In related news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.27, for a total transaction of $903,810.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,942,728.94. This trade represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Primerica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRI. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Primerica by 3.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Primerica by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Primerica by 0.7% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Primerica by 56.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Primerica by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.