Comerica Bank Purchases 1,303 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Comerica Bank lifted its position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Primerica were worth $8,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRI. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Primerica by 108.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,635 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Primerica in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $336,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Primerica by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Primerica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Primerica by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,251,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRI opened at $265.41 on Friday. Primerica, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.54 and a fifty-two week high of $307.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $271.54 and a 200-day moving average of $280.56.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is 30.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Primerica

In other news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total value of $565,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,852.90. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total value of $845,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. The trade was a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575 over the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.