Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,349 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.09% of Primerica worth $7,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 0.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Primerica during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 247.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 4.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 121,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,176,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Primerica during the third quarter worth approximately $115,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PRI shares. StockNews.com cut Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.43.

Primerica Stock Performance

NYSE PRI opened at $281.29 on Tuesday. Primerica, Inc. has a twelve month low of $184.76 and a twelve month high of $307.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $276.08.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 14.95%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 19.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to repurchase $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. 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 1.48%. Primerica’s payout ratio is currently 27.50%.

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.