Sovereign s Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Sovereign s Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 15,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,250,000. Primerica makes up approximately 2.7% of Sovereign s Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 37,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,102,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at $869,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 22,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,026,000 after buying an additional 9,301 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,388,140.28. This trade represents a 8.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,852.90. This represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PRI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Primerica has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $309.14.

Primerica Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:PRI opened at $279.02 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $269.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.06. Primerica, Inc. has a twelve month low of $219.52 and a twelve month high of $307.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $5.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.25. Primerica had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $803.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.54 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.98%.

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.