Analysts Set Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) PT at $162.75

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $162.75.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PLMR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Palomar from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Palomar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore set a $152.00 price target on Palomar in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Palomar from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Palomar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th.

Palomar Price Performance

Palomar stock opened at $136.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.30. Palomar has a 52 week low of $100.81 and a 52 week high of $147.62.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $314.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $621.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Palomar will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palomar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Palomar’s payout ratio is presently 24.19%.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In related news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 3,500 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.60, for a total value of $457,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 322,388 shares in the company, valued at $42,103,872.80. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.74, for a total value of $101,042.34. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,238 shares in the company, valued at $2,074,242.12. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 23,665 shares of company stock worth $3,138,093 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PLMR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palomar during the second quarter valued at approximately $556,348,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Palomar by 12,971.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,957,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,623 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Palomar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,166,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Palomar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $78,657,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Palomar by 250.1% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 795,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,237,000 after purchasing an additional 568,360 shares during the period. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.