Merit Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Slide Insurance Holdings, Inc. $SLDE

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group bought 550,502 shares of Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) in Q4, a stake valued at about $10.7 million that represents roughly 0.44% of the company, while several other institutions (e.g., Geode, Norges Bank, Marshall Wace) also initiated positions.
• Insider selling: CEO Bruce Lucas sold 273,702 shares on April 9 at an average $18.11 (~$4.96M), and insiders have sold a total of 2,909,847 shares worth about $53.08M over the past 90 days.
• Fundamentals and analyst view: Slide beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.23 vs. $0.87), has a $2.44B market cap and a 7.61 P/E, and carries a consensus "Buy" rating with a $24.40 target (Barclays raised its target to $29).

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Slide Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLDE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 550,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,724,000. Merit Financial Group LLC owned about 0.44% of Slide Insurance as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLDE. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $2,245,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $216,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $866,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $1,056,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $834,000.

Insider Activity at Slide Insurance

In other news, CEO Bruce Lucas sold 273,702 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.11, for a total value of $4,956,743.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 37,620,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,315,096.63. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,909,847 shares of company stock valued at $53,082,121 over the last 90 days.

Slide Insurance Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLDE opened at $19.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $17.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61. Slide Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.53 and a 12-month high of $25.90.

Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $347.01 million during the quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLDE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Slide Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Slide Insurance in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Slide Insurance from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Slide Insurance from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Texas Capital upgraded Slide Insurance to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.40.

About Slide Insurance

Launched in 2021, we are a technology enabled, fast-growing, coastal specialty insurer. We focus on profitable underwriting of single family and condominium policies in the property and casualty (“P&C”) industry in coastal states along the Atlantic seaboard through our insurance subsidiary, Slide Insurance Company (“SIC”). We utilize our differentiated technology and data-driven approach to focus on market opportunities that are underserved by other insurance companies. We acquire policies both from inorganic block acquisitions and subsequent renewals, as well as new business sales through a combination of independent agents and our direct-to-consumer(“DTC”) channel, through which we sell our insurance products directly to end consumers, without the use of retailers, brokers, agents or other intermediaries.

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