Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Takes $272,000 Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Primerica during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Primerica by 129.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Primerica by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Primerica by 65.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Primerica by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 254 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total value of $65,555.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,030. This trade represents a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.14.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of PRI stock traded up $4.70 on Wednesday, hitting $259.46. The stock had a trading volume of 28,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,096. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.03. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.53 and a 1 year high of $307.91. The company's 50 day moving average price is $274.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.32.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica's payout ratio is currently 30.25%.

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.