Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $159.50.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PLMR. Weiss Ratings raised Palomar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Palomar from $168.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Palomar from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Palomar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palomar from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Palomar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLMR opened at $128.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 0.42. Palomar has a 1-year low of $101.64 and a 1-year high of $175.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.87.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $244.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.98 million. Palomar had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.93%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palomar will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palomar

In other Palomar news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 5,000 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.86, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 358,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,031,549.68. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Jon Christianson sold 1,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.50, for a total value of $235,894.50. Following the sale, the president directly owned 59,631 shares in the company, valued at $8,318,524.50. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,276 shares of company stock valued at $1,630,956. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palomar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLMR. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Palomar by 234.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 798,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,147,000 after buying an additional 559,383 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 290.2% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 497,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,675,000 after acquiring an additional 369,697 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Palomar by 81.0% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 738,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,223,000 after acquiring an additional 330,592 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Palomar during the second quarter worth approximately $37,253,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Palomar by 2,753.2% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 180,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,841,000 after acquiring an additional 174,165 shares during the last quarter. 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.