Short Interest in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) Rises By 22.0%

Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 214,200 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the October 31st total of 175,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 135,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.27, for a total value of $903,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,322 shares in the company, valued at $10,942,728.94. This represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.85, for a total transaction of $507,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,846,081.35. This represents a 11.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRI. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Primerica by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,237,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,688,000 after buying an additional 17,095 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 696,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,807,000 after purchasing an additional 25,951 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 30,726.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,102,000 after purchasing an additional 678,752 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Primerica by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 637,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,880,000 after purchasing an additional 21,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Primerica by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 121,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,176,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PRI shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Primerica in a research note on Friday, August 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $283.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Primerica from $257.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Primerica currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.50.

Primerica Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PRI traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $300.90. 161,233 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 153,298. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.82. Primerica has a 52-week low of $184.76 and a 52-week high of $307.91. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.87. Primerica had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 30.93%. The firm had revenue of $774.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.28 earnings per share. Primerica’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Primerica will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.50%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.