Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Primerica were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Primerica during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,866,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Primerica by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Primerica by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Primerica by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 46,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,568,000 after purchasing an additional 6,561 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Primerica by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total transaction of $65,555.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRI opened at $280.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $283.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.03. Primerica, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.76 and a fifty-two week high of $307.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42 and a beta of 1.12.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.25%.

Primerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to buyback $450.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Primerica Company 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.