Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $1.38 Million Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Primerica were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Primerica by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 779,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,691,000 after purchasing an additional 82,921 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Primerica by 15.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Primerica by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,905 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Primerica by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Primerica by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 131,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,655,000 after purchasing an additional 60,565 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PRI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.14.

Insider Transactions at Primerica

In related news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,852.90. The trade was a 13.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $56,030. This represents a 53.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Primerica Stock Performance

Primerica stock opened at $279.02 on Monday. Primerica, Inc. has a 52 week low of $219.52 and a 52 week high of $307.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $269.12 and a 200-day moving average of $280.06.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $5.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.25. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $803.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $783.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.91 EPS. Primerica’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.98%.

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.