Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Takes Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Primerica during the fourth quarter worth approximately $339,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Primerica by 44.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 84,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,479,000 after purchasing an additional 25,981 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in Primerica in the third quarter worth approximately $1,054,000. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Primerica in the third quarter worth approximately $6,098,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Primerica by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primerica Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PRI opened at $213.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.06. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $173.00 and a 1 year high of $256.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $244.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.64.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $726.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.64 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 20.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 17.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.81, for a total value of $58,455.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at $24,981. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Primerica news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.81, for a total transaction of $58,455.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at $24,981. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $365,115.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 13,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,227,373.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,708 shares of company stock worth $1,648,677. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PRI. StockNews.com upgraded Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Raymond James cut Primerica from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Primerica from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Primerica from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Primerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $245.50.

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.