Zacks Research Upgrades Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Slide Insurance to “strong buy” from “hold,” while analysts’ overall consensus remains “Buy” with an average price target of $25.40.
• Slide Insurance reported quarterly EPS of $1.06, beating estimates of $0.88, on revenue of $386.82 million; analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $3.91.
• The company authorized a $100 million share-repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 4.3% of outstanding shares, although insiders have sold shares totaling $45.3 million over the past 90 days.

Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Slide Insurance from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Slide Insurance from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on Slide Insurance from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Slide Insurance in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 price target on Slide Insurance in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Slide Insurance has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.40.

Slide Insurance Stock Performance

SLDE opened at $20.65 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average is $19.06 and its 200 day moving average is $18.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.04 and a beta of -0.04. Slide Insurance has a 12-month low of $12.53 and a 12-month high of $23.00.

Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.18. Slide Insurance had a net margin of 40.02% and a return on equity of 50.69%. The business had revenue of $386.82 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Slide Insurance will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Slide Insurance announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Gries, Jr. sold 28,212 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $593,580.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,749,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,802,010.80. This represents a 1.59% 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, CEO Bruce Lucas sold 44,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.12, for a total value of $761,275.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 34,506,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $590,746,126.88. This represents a 0.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,413,793 shares of company stock valued at $45,314,074 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 50.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Slide Insurance by 3,462.2% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Slide Insurance in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Slide Insurance in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000.

Slide Insurance Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source