Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Director Sells $178,500.00 in Stock

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Director Joel Babbit sold 700 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $178,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,142,000. This represents a 7.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Primerica Price Performance

NYSE PRI traded up $1.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $254.87. 202,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 174,447. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.11. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.98 and a 1 year high of $299.97. The company has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.90.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $6.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.52 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $838.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $817.81 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 22.36%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 19th that allows the company to repurchase $475.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRI. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Primerica during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Primerica by 186.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Primerica during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in Primerica during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Primerica during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PRI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research raised Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Primerica in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $292.00 target price on Primerica and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Primerica from $293.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.80.

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.