Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $137.89 and last traded at $135.47, with a volume of 5658 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $135.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Palomar from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Palomar in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Palomar from $112.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Palomar from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.83.

Palomar Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $119.30 and a 200-day moving average of $107.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26 and a beta of 0.33.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.13. Palomar had a return on equity of 19.76% and a net margin of 21.23%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palomar news, insider Angela L. Grant sold 1,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.86, for a total transaction of $159,319.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,249.24. The trade was a 37.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Knutzen sold 282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.46, for a total value of $29,457.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,099,437.08. This represents a 1.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,455 shares of company stock valued at $3,911,340 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Palomar by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 32,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 12,147 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar during the 3rd quarter worth about $371,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palomar by 109.0% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 4,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palomar by 6.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 230,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,826,000 after buying an additional 14,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

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.