Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) were up 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $285.36 and last traded at $284.70. Approximately 12,231 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 134,294 shares. The stock had previously closed at $283.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRI has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Primerica currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.00.

Primerica Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.69.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $774.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.25 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 14.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 19.55 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.50%.

Primerica announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to repurchase $450.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.27, for a total transaction of $903,810.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,942,728.94. This represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRI. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Primerica by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 66,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,650,000 after buying an additional 7,708 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 18.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Primerica by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,229,000 after acquiring an additional 10,907 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Primerica by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 637,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,880,000 after acquiring an additional 21,836 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.