KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $2.47 Million Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 9,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,470,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PRI. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Primerica by 3.9% during the third 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Primerica during the 4th quarter worth $34,191,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Primerica by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 120,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,573,000 after buying an additional 11,612 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Primerica by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 78,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,396,000 after acquiring an additional 7,298 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.86.

Primerica Stock Performance

PRI opened at $290.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.12. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.76 and a 1 year high of $307.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $286.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.29.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last released 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 net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 31.11%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.25%.

Insider Activity at Primerica

In other Primerica news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total value of $65,555.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,030. This represents a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.