Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Trading Up 0.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)’s share price traded up 0.3% on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $308.00 to $313.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Primerica traded as high as $285.19 and last traded at $284.94. 15,408 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 137,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.14.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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 assumed coverage on Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Primerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Primerica by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 779,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,691,000 after buying an additional 82,921 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Primerica by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 347,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,194,000 after purchasing an additional 46,935 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Primerica by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 131,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,655,000 after purchasing an additional 60,565 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primerica Stock Down 1.0 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $282.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 1.11.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 19.79 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is a positive change from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is 30.25%.

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

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.