Brokerages Set Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Target Price at $316.29

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $316.2857.

Several equities research analysts have commented on PRI shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Primerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $292.00 to $318.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Primerica in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Primerica from $292.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Primerica from $293.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th.

Primerica Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE PRI opened at $278.95 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.89. Primerica has a 1-year low of $230.98 and a 1-year high of $307.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $796.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $790.99 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 32.42% and a net margin of 21.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Primerica will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.55%.

Insider Activity

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.20, for a total transaction of $655,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 36,392 shares in the company, valued at $9,541,982.40. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Primerica during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in Primerica during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Primerica by 1,714.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Primerica by 108.5% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Primerica by 2,300.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.