Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Hits New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $127.07 and last traded at $125.26, with a volume of 80769 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $108.99.

The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.13. Palomar had a net margin of 21.55% and a return on equity of 19.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PLMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Palomar from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Palomar from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Palomar from $119.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palomar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Jon Christianson sold 356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $37,205.56. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 57,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,984,138.09. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 394 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.69, for a total transaction of $40,065.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,722,933.67. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,933 shares of company stock worth $4,030,156. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palomar

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Palomar by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,097,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,919,000 after purchasing an additional 32,151 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palomar by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 600,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,822,000 after acquiring an additional 18,335 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palomar by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 128,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,133,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Palomar by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 32,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after acquiring an additional 12,147 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palomar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,711,000. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palomar Stock Up 14.4 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $106.96 and a 200-day moving average of $100.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.38.

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.