Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Palomar Holdings hit a new 52-week low after Piper Sandler cut its price target to $132 from $151, even while keeping an overweight rating. The stock fell to as low as $107.51 in trading.
• Recent analyst sentiment remains mixed, but overall Wall Street still leans positive on PLMR. The consensus rating is Buy with an average price target of $157, despite a couple of recent downgrades.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including the president and an insider earlier this year, while institutional ownership remains high at 90.25%. The company also recently beat EPS expectations, though revenue came in below estimates.

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $151.00 to $132.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palomar traded as low as $107.51 and last traded at $108.2820, with a volume of 105730 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $113.36.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on PLMR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Palomar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Palomar from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Palomar from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Palomar from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Palomar in a research report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $157.00.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In related news, insider Jonathan Knutzen sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.04, for a total value of $35,979.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,531,215.16. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Jon Christianson sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 62,919 shares in the company, valued at $7,864,875. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,733,817. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palomar by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,698,278 shares of the company's stock worth $363,620,000 after purchasing an additional 67,038 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Palomar by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 840,226 shares of the company's stock worth $113,229,000 after purchasing an additional 101,698 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Palomar by 250.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 795,625 shares of the company's stock worth $107,237,000 after purchasing an additional 568,360 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Palomar by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 785,165 shares of the company's stock worth $105,809,000 after purchasing an additional 328,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in Palomar by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 714,914 shares of the company's stock worth $85,432,000 after purchasing an additional 20,597 shares during the last quarter. 90.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palomar Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $123.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.67.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.14. Palomar had a net margin of 20.11% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The company had revenue of $278.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.79 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Palomar's revenue for the quarter was up 59.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: PLMR is a specialty insurance holding company focused on providing medical stop-loss coverage and related administrative services to self-funded employer health plans in the United States. The firm operates through two primary business segments—Medical Stop-Loss and Specialty Program Management—to deliver tailored risk protection and comprehensive program administration.

In its Medical Stop-Loss segment, Palomar underwrites excess and aggregate stop-loss policies designed to shield self-insured employers from catastrophic medical claims that exceed pre-determined retention levels.

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