Critical Survey: Palomar (PLMR) & Its Peers

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) is one of 311 public companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Palomar to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Palomar and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Palomar	18.61%	23.28%	6.45%
Palomar Competitors	9.36%	-9.77%	4.23%

Volatility and Risk

Palomar has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palomar’s competitors have a beta of -1.50, meaning that their average stock price is 250% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Palomar pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Palomar pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 30.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.2% of Palomar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Palomar shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Palomar and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Palomar	$875.97 million	$197.07 million	19.11
Palomar Competitors	$15.63 billion	$1.70 billion	34.72

Palomar’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Palomar. Palomar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Palomar and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Palomar	0	1	5	0	2.83
Palomar Competitors	3323	15640	16476	738	2.40

Palomar currently has a consensus target price of $160.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.51%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 5.58%. Given Palomar’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Palomar is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Palomar beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc., a specialty insurance company, provides property and casualty insurance to residential and businesses in the United States. The company offers personal and commercial specialty property insurance products, including residential and commercial earthquake, fronting, commercial all risk, specialty homeowners, inland marine, Hawaii hurricane, and residential flood, as well as other products, such as assumed reinsurance. It markets and distributes its products through retail agents, wholesale brokers, program administrators, and carrier partnerships. The company was formerly known as GC Palomar Holdings and changed its name to Palomar Holdings, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.