Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.22 EPS

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22, Zacks reports. Primerica had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 14.95%.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of PRI stock opened at $278.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $283.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.43. Primerica has a 52-week low of $184.76 and a 52-week high of $307.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Primerica’s payout ratio is currently 27.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Primerica currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.14.

Primerica announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to repurchase $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.