Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 1,062 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,062 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.17% of Primerica worth $14,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 779,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,691,000 after acquiring an additional 82,921 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 347,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,194,000 after acquiring an additional 46,935 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 131,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,655,000 after acquiring an additional 60,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PRI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Primerica has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $309.14.

Primerica Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE PRI opened at $279.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.03. Primerica, Inc. has a 12-month low of $219.52 and a 12-month high of $307.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $5.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.77 by $0.25. Primerica had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $803.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $783.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total transaction of $65,555.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,030. The trade was a 53.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This trade represents a 8.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Primerica 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.