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

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Primerica from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Raymond James cut Primerica from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Primerica from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Primerica presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $245.50.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of PRI stock opened at $211.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.06. Primerica has a one year low of $173.00 and a one year high of $256.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $244.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.71.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $726.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.64 million. Primerica had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Primerica will post 17.76 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 1,215 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total value of $302,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,467 shares in the company, valued at $4,100,283. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,379 shares in the company, valued at $829,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 1,215 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total value of $302,535.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,708 shares of company stock worth $1,648,677. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primerica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Primerica by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,907,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,962,000 after buying an additional 24,125 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Primerica by 0.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,277,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,529,000 after buying an additional 12,990 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Primerica during the fourth quarter worth about $210,472,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Primerica by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,112,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,174,000 after buying an additional 6,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Primerica by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 811,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,142,000 after buying an additional 174,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

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.