Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Primerica, Inc. $PRI

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Primerica were worth $4,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Primerica by 8.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Primerica by 38.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Primerica during the first quarter worth about $389,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Primerica by 45.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Primerica during the first quarter worth about $673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PRI. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Primerica from $308.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Primerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $292.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Primerica in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Primerica from $293.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Primerica has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.86.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of Primerica stock opened at $266.40 on Tuesday. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.98 and a 1 year high of $307.91. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.98.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $796.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $790.99 million. Primerica had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. Primerica’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.20, for a total transaction of $655,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 36,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,541,982.40. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.