World Investment Advisors Purchases New Holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRI. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 25,951 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Primerica by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,635 shares in the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter worth about $543,000. Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 111,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,323,000 after purchasing an additional 41,612 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total value of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,852.90. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on 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 initiated coverage on shares of Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six equities 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, Primerica presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.86.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of PRI opened at $248.16 on Friday. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.76 and a 1 year high of $307.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $284.91 and a 200-day moving average of $282.56. The company has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05 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 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%. Analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica’s payout ratio is presently 30.25%.

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.