Morgan Stanley Increases Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Price Target to $250.00

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $245.00 to $250.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

PRI has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised Primerica from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James downgraded Primerica from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Primerica from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Primerica has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $245.50.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of Primerica stock opened at $210.20 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.63. Primerica has a one year low of $173.00 and a one year high of $256.56. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.06.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.27 by ($0.02). Primerica had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 20.37%. The firm had revenue of $726.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $723.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Primerica will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $365,115.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,227,373.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total value of $922,571.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $365,115.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,227,373.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,708 shares of company stock worth $1,648,677 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRI. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Primerica by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,907,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,962,000 after acquiring an additional 24,125 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Primerica by 0.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,277,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,529,000 after purchasing an additional 12,990 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primerica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,472,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Primerica by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,112,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,174,000 after purchasing an additional 6,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Primerica by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 811,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,142,000 after buying an additional 174,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.