Hippo (NYSE:HIPO) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has upgraded Hippo (NYSE:HIPO) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating growing confidence in the company's stock.
• Other analysts, including Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and B. Riley, have also raised their price targets for Hippo, suggesting a consensus target price of $34.25.
• Insider selling activity has been noted, with major shareholder Len Fw Investor, LLC reducing their ownership by 17.20% after selling over 514,000 shares.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hippo (NYSE:HIPO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hippo from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. B. Riley raised their price objective on Hippo from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Hippo from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.25.

Hippo Stock Up 5.4%

NYSE:HIPO traded up $1.6740 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.9240. The company's stock had a trading volume of 173,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,918. The stock has a market capitalization of $824.09 million, a P/E ratio of -67.19 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.14 and a 200-day moving average of $26.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Hippo has a 52-week low of $15.74 and a 52-week high of $35.44.

Hippo (NYSE:HIPO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $117.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.00 million. Hippo had a negative return on equity of 12.13% and a negative net margin of 2.52%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hippo will post -3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Torben Ostergaard sold 2,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.95, for a total transaction of $73,197.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,252.55. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Len Fw Investor, Llc sold 514,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $14,488,084.53. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,476,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,760,695.06. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 521,642 shares of company stock valued at $14,681,601 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hippo

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIPO. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Hippo by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,759 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Hippo by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 35,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Hippo by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Hippo in the fourth quarter valued at about $311,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Hippo by 96.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 228,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,107,000 after purchasing an additional 112,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.01% of the company's stock.

Hippo Company Profile

Hippo Holdings Inc provides property and casualty insurance products to individuals and business customers primarily in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Services, Insurance-as-a-Service, and Hippo Home Insurance Program. Its insurance products include homeowners' insurance against risks of fire, wind, and theft, as well as other personal lines policies from third party carriers; and personal and commercial, as well as home, auto, cyber, small business, life, specialty lines, and other insurance products.