Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Palomar’s Q2 2027 earnings at $2.30 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $2.88 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $2.79 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $10.81 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PLMR. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Palomar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Evercore set a $152.00 price target on shares of Palomar in a report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Palomar from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palomar from $132.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Palomar from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.75.

Palomar Stock Performance

Shares of PLMR stock opened at $125.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.31. Palomar has a 12 month low of $100.81 and a 12 month high of $147.62.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $314.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $621.52 million. Palomar had a return on equity of 23.28% and a net margin of 18.61%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Palomar will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Palomar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Palomar’s payout ratio is 24.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Knutzen sold 296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.75, for a total value of $37,814.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,608,937.50. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO T. Christopher Uchida sold 791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.74, for a total transaction of $101,042.34. Following the sale, 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 position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,322 shares of company stock worth $2,198,116. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Palomar during the second quarter worth approximately $556,348,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Palomar in the second quarter valued at approximately $132,166,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 worth $111,664,000 after buying an additional 138,368 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 840,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,229,000 after buying an additional 101,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palomar by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 714,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,432,000 after buying an additional 20,597 shares during the period. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc is a specialty insurance company that provides property and casualty insurance products for risks that may be underserved by standard insurance carriers. The company focuses on markets where specialized underwriting expertise is important, including catastrophe-exposed property and other complex commercial and personal insurance risks.

Its offerings include commercial and residential property coverage, casualty insurance, specialty programs, and other products designed for areas such as earthquake, wind, flood, and other natural catastrophe exposures.