Quarry LP Acquires 377 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 107.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Primerica were worth $197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 82,921 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Primerica by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,626,000 after buying an additional 2,905 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Primerica by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,366,000 after buying an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised 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 acquiring an additional 60,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,191,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primerica Price Performance

Primerica stock opened at $261.63 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $273.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 1.03. Primerica, Inc. has a one year low of $211.53 and a one year high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PRI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.14.

Insider Transactions at Primerica

In related news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total transaction of $65,555.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $56,030. This represents a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,762,852.90. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Primerica Profile

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.