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

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 23.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,955 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Primerica were worth $3,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRI. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Primerica during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Primerica by 493.3% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Primerica by 45.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. O Dell Group LLC purchased a new position in Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at $153,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Primerica in the first quarter valued at $163,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.55, for a total transaction of $757,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,446,071.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.55, for a total transaction of $757,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,446,071.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.11, for a total transaction of $391,665.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 10,259 shares in the company, valued at $2,678,727.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,817,595. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Primerica from $257.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Primerica from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Primerica from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Friday, August 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $283.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $275.20.

Primerica Price Performance

NYSE PRI opened at $260.75 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $249.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.18. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.09. Primerica, Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.76 and a 12 month high of $265.27.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.47 by $0.24. Primerica had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 27.81%. The firm had revenue of $803.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 17.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.91%.

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.