Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Palomar Holdings has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from six analysts, with five buy ratings and one hold rating. The average 12-month price target is $162.75.
• Palomar reported quarterly EPS of $2.36, exceeding the $2.19 consensus estimate, while analysts expect full-year EPS of $9.31.
• Institutional investors own 90.25% of the company, while insiders sold 23,665 shares worth $3.2 million over the past 90 days. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, equal to a 1.5% annualized yield.

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $162.75.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Palomar from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Palomar from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Palomar from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palomar from $132.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore set a $152.00 target price on Palomar in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 3,500 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.98, for a total value of $472,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 318,888 shares in the company, valued at $43,043,502.24. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Jon Christianson sold 528 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.75, for a total transaction of $67,452.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 66,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,555,417.50. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,665 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,163. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palomar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Palomar during the 2nd quarter worth $556,348,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Palomar in the second quarter valued at $132,166,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Palomar by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 840,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,229,000 after acquiring an additional 101,698 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Palomar by 17.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 933,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,664,000 after acquiring an additional 138,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palomar by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 661,900 shares of the company's stock worth $89,212,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.25% of the company's stock.

Palomar Stock Down 1.3%

PLMR opened at $123.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.39. Palomar has a twelve month low of $100.81 and a twelve month high of $147.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $314.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $621.52 million. Palomar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 18.61%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palomar will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palomar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Palomar's dividend payout ratio is 24.19%.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc is a specialty insurance company that provides property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company focuses on markets that are often underserved by traditional insurers, using specialized underwriting expertise and data-driven risk analysis to develop coverage for complex or niche exposures.

Palomar's products include residential and commercial earthquake insurance, specialty property coverage, inland marine insurance, casualty insurance, crop insurance and other specialty insurance solutions.

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