Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Trading Up 0.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.3% on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $308.00 to $313.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Primerica traded as high as $285.19 and last traded at $284.94. 15,408 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 137,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.14.

PRI has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primerica

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,191,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Primerica by 254.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,558,000 after purchasing an additional 83,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Primerica by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 779,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $211,691,000 after purchasing an additional 82,921 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in Primerica by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 131,365 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,655,000 after buying an additional 60,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in Primerica by 2,508.8% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 57,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,606,000 after buying an additional 55,295 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Primerica Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $282.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 1.11.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Equities analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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 represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. This is a positive change from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.50%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors 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.