Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Stock Price

Key Points

• Piper Sandler cut Palomar’s price target from $151 to $132, though it kept an overweight rating on the stock.
• Despite the lower target, Wall Street remains broadly constructive: Palomar’s consensus rating is still a Buy, and the average target price among analysts is about $157.
• Palomar recently beat quarterly EPS expectations at $2.31 versus $2.17, but revenue came in well below estimates at $278.94 million versus $557.79 million expected.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $151.00 to $132.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.44% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Palomar from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Palomar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Palomar in a research note on Monday, February 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Palomar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palomar from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palomar currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $157.00.

Palomar Stock Performance

Palomar stock opened at $113.36 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $123.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.67. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 0.49. Palomar has a fifty-two week low of $107.75 and a fifty-two week high of $175.85.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Knutzen sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.04, for a total transaction of $35,979.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,531,215.16. This represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.77, for a total transaction of $457,695.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 336,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,989,458.76. The trade was a 1.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,720 shares of company stock worth $2,733,817. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palomar

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLMR. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palomar by 14.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 182,255 shares of the company's stock worth $21,278,000 after purchasing an additional 22,346 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Palomar in the third quarter worth approximately $1,459,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palomar by 11.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 456,172 shares of the company's stock worth $53,258,000 after purchasing an additional 45,665 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Palomar by 14.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 104,449 shares of the company's stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 13,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palomar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,473,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.25% of the company's stock.

Palomar Company Profile

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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