Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 492,900 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the February 29th total of 398,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 158,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company's shares are sold short.

Palomar Stock Performance

PLMR stock traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $82.19. 94,323 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 162,562. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34 and a beta of 0.21. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $71.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.62. Palomar has a one year low of $46.09 and a one year high of $86.25.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $102.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.07 million. Palomar had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 21.07%. On average, analysts expect that Palomar will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 7,000 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.62, for a total value of $578,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 475,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,276,556.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 7,000 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.62, for a total value of $578,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 475,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,276,556.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Jon Christianson sold 2,000 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 70,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,201,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,509 shares of company stock valued at $2,950,557. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLMR. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palomar by 0.9% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 27,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Palomar by 26.0% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 433,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,992,000 after purchasing an additional 89,410 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palomar by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 195,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,940,000 after buying an additional 6,903 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Palomar by 11.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Palomar in the third quarter valued at approximately $538,000. 90.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLMR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Palomar from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Palomar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Palomar from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Palomar from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Palomar from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.50.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc, a specialty insurance company, provides property and casualty insurance to residential and businesses in the United States. The company offers personal and commercial specialty property insurance products, including residential and commercial earthquake, fronting, commercial all risk, specialty homeowners, inland marine, Hawaii hurricane, and residential flood, as well as other products, such as assumed reinsurance.