Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Primerica were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PRI. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Primerica by 59.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Primerica by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 117,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,840,000 after acquiring an additional 11,996 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Primerica during the 4th quarter worth about $1,343,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Primerica by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 17,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Primerica by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 26,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,857,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PRI. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Primerica from $274.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Primerica has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $317.83.

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRI opened at $263.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 0.98. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.98 and a 1 year high of $307.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $268.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $273.90.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $5.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $803.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $783.54 million. Primerica had a return on equity of 32.30% and a net margin of 15.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.98%.

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.