Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 4,774 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 16.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,774 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Primerica were worth $6,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PRI. Cynosure Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Primerica by 83.1% in the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Primerica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Primerica by 320.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 4,383 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Primerica during the third quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in Primerica by 0.3% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 77,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,431,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PRI. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Primerica from $257.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Primerica from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Primerica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Friday, August 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $283.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Primerica from $314.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Primerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.50.

Primerica Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Primerica stock opened at $303.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 1.08. Primerica, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.76 and a 52 week high of $307.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $282.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.83.

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

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Primerica’s payout ratio is 27.50%.

Primerica announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to buyback $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Primerica news, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 2,000 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,846,081.35. This trade represents a 11.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.27, for a total value of $903,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,322 shares in the company, valued at $10,942,728.94. The trade was a 7.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.