Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 515,200 shares, a growth of 29.1% from the August 31st total of 399,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 178,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PLMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Palomar from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Palomar from $96.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palomar from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Palomar from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Palomar from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.33.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In other Palomar news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 1,000 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.30, for a total transaction of $91,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,199,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palomar news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.30, for a total transaction of $91,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,199,782.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 12,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.08, for a total value of $1,113,635.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,228.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,266. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palomar

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLMR. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar during the second quarter valued at $461,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palomar by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 37,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 5,896 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palomar by 17.1% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 300,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,362,000 after buying an additional 43,841 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Palomar by 0.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 60,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,879,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palomar by 17.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,627,000 after buying an additional 6,735 shares during the period. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palomar Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLMR traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.82. The company had a trading volume of 125,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,012. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 0.34. Palomar has a twelve month low of $48.08 and a twelve month high of $100.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.38.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $123.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.74 million. Palomar had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 21.63%. The business’s revenue was up 47.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palomar will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Palomar Company Profile

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.