Primerica Profit Rises as Investment Arm Outruns Insurance
Primerica posted diluted earnings of $6.45 a share in the second quarter, up 19% from a year earlier, as its investment and savings products business offset softening growth in its core life insurance operations.
Primerica (PRI) reported diluted earnings per share of $6.45 in the second quarter of 2026, up 19% from $5.42 a year earlier and an acceleration from the 18% growth posted in the first quarter, when EPS reached $5.97. Net premiums grew just 1% year-over-year, decelerating from 2% growth in the first quarter, underscoring that the earnings gain came from investment products rather than the insurance book.
The Investment and Savings Products segment carried the quarter. Product sales hit a record $4.4 billion, up 23% year-over-year, while client asset values reached an all-time high of $140 billion, up 16%. Segment pre-tax income grew 31% to $104.2 million, outpacing both the 23% sales growth and the 21% rise in segment revenue, as asset-based commissions climbed 28% on favorable mix toward U.S. managed accounts and Canadian mutual funds. That growth rate has decelerated each of the past four quarters even as dollar volumes hit new highs, from 28% in the third quarter of 2025 to 24% in the fourth quarter, 22% in the first quarter of 2026, and 23% in the second.
The Term Life segment moved in the opposite direction. Pre-tax income fell 4% to $148.5 million, reversing the 6% growth reported in the first quarter, as the insurance expense ratio rose to 8.4% from 7.6% a year earlier. Life insurance policies issued fell 12% year-over-year to 78,904, a smaller decline than the 14% drop in the first quarter, and issued term life face amount fell 8% to $27.7 billion, also an improvement from the prior quarter's 10% decline. The life-licensed sales force shrank to 148,612, down 3% year-over-year and the second straight quarter of year-over-year decline after a period of growth.
Recruiting showed the clearest sign of stabilization. New recruits rose 2% year-over-year to 82,346, the first increase after declines of 17% in the first quarter and 21% in the fourth quarter of 2025. New life-licensed representatives still fell 15% to 11,020, but that was a smaller drop than the 25% decline recorded in the fourth quarter, suggesting the erosion in force-building metrics is moderating even as the existing sales force continues to contract.
The smaller Corporate and Other Distributed Products segment turned a profit of $3.8 million, up 40% year-over-year, driven by higher net investment income and following a first-quarter loss of $6.7 million that had itself improved 16% from the prior year. Primerica's effective tax rate fell to 21.7% from 23.9% a year earlier, adding to per-share earnings without a comparable disclosure in the first-quarter release.
Adjusted stockholders' equity per share climbed to $79.06, up 14.0% year-over-year and up from $77.12 at the end of the first quarter, continuing a steady sequential rise. The quarter's results included no annual actuarial assumption review gain, unlike the third quarter of 2025, when a one-time $23.1 million remeasurement gain added $0.54 a share to results — a comparison that no longer flatters the year-over-year growth rate.
Primerica repurchased $135 million of stock in the quarter, matching the first quarter's pace but below the $129 million repurchased in the third quarter of 2025, bringing year-to-date capital returned to stockholders to $352 million. The quarterly dividend held at $1.20 a share, unchanged since the fourth quarter of 2025, when it had been raised 15% from $1.04.