Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Stake in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Primerica were worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 1,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Primerica from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Primerica from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James cut Primerica from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Primerica Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE PRI opened at $213.46 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $240.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.79. Primerica, Inc. has a 12-month low of $173.00 and a 12-month high of $256.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.06.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $726.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $723.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Primerica news, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 1,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total transaction of $302,535.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,100,283. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total transaction of $922,571.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 1,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total value of $302,535.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,100,283. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,677 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Primerica 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.