Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Stock Bumped Down to “Hold” by Zacks Research

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PLMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Palomar from $167.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Palomar from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Palomar from $132.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore set a $152.00 target price on shares of Palomar in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Palomar from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.00.

Palomar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLMR opened at $140.32 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $133.26 and its 200 day moving average is $126.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. Palomar has a 52-week low of $100.81 and a 52-week high of $147.62.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $314.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $621.52 million. Palomar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 18.61%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. Research analysts predict that Palomar will post 9.27 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.31, for a total value of $484,085.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 315,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,621,314.28. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO T. Christopher Uchida sold 791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.74, for a total transaction of $101,042.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,242.12. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,115 shares of company stock worth $1,619,923. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLMR. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Palomar by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 933,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,664,000 after purchasing an additional 138,368 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Palomar during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,016,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Palomar during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,829,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Palomar during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,131,000. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Palomar by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 714,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,432,000 after acquiring an additional 20,597 shares during the last quarter. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palomar Company Profile

Palomar Holdings, Inc is a specialty insurance company that provides property and casualty insurance products in markets that may be underserved by traditional insurers. The company focuses on risks that are complex, difficult to place or exposed to natural catastrophes, using specialized underwriting and risk-management capabilities.

Its offerings include residential and commercial earthquake insurance, inland marine coverage, specialty property insurance, casualty products, workers’ compensation and other tailored insurance solutions.