Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Trading 5.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)’s stock price rose 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $129.29 and last traded at $130.7950. Approximately 46,513 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 269,703 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLMR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Palomar from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Palomar in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Palomar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Palomar from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.75.

Palomar Trading Up 5.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 0.40.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.17. Palomar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 18.61%.The business had revenue of $314.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $621.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palomar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Palomar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palomar

In other news, President Jon Christianson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.50, for a total value of $418,500.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 66,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,273,681. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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, insider Timothy Carter sold 480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total transaction of $59,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,670 shares in the company, valued at $207,564.30. The trade was a 22.33% 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. Insiders sold 22,050 shares of company stock valued at $2,875,050 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palomar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLMR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palomar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $556,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palomar by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,698,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,620,000 after acquiring an additional 67,038 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,166,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Palomar by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 933,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,664,000 after purchasing an additional 138,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Palomar by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 840,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,229,000 after purchasing an additional 101,698 shares during the period. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palomar

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.