Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Trading Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) traded down 0.2% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $280.32 and last traded at $285.29. 16,243 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 139,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $285.93.

Specifically, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total value of $565,800.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,852.90. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total value of $65,555.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,030. The trade was a 53.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.86.

Primerica Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.03. The company has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42 and a beta of 1.12.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Primerica's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.25%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to buyback $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primerica

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Primerica during the fourth quarter worth about $34,191,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Primerica by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,558,000 after buying an additional 83,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 82,921 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of 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 grew its holdings in shares of Primerica by 2,508.8% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 57,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,606,000 after buying an additional 55,295 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

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.