Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SLDE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Slide Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Slide Insurance from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Slide Insurance in a research note on Monday. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Slide Insurance in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Slide Insurance from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Slide Insurance presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.40.

Slide Insurance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLDE opened at $20.65 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.06 and its 200 day moving average is $18.27. Slide Insurance has a fifty-two week low of $12.53 and a fifty-two week high of $23.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 5.04 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.18. Slide Insurance had a net margin of 40.02% and a return on equity of 50.69%. The company had revenue of $386.82 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Slide Insurance will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Slide Insurance declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Slide Insurance news, COO Shannon Lucas sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total value of $857,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,210,300 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,318. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bruce Lucas sold 455,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.06, for a total transaction of $8,672,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 35,429,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $675,279,884.90. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,413,793 shares of company stock valued at $45,314,074 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 50.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLDE. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Slide Insurance by 3,462.2% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. CWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Slide Insurance during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Slide Insurance during the 4th quarter worth $47,000.

Slide Insurance Company Profile

Launched in 2021, we are a technology enabled, fast-growing, coastal specialty insurer. We focus on profitable underwriting of single family and condominium policies in the property and casualty (“P&C”) industry in coastal states along the Atlantic seaboard through our insurance subsidiary, Slide Insurance Company (“SIC”). We utilize our differentiated technology and data-driven approach to focus on market opportunities that are underserved by other insurance companies. We acquire policies both from inorganic block acquisitions and subsequent renewals, as well as new business sales through a combination of independent agents and our direct-to-consumer(“DTC”) channel, through which we sell our insurance products directly to end consumers, without the use of retailers, brokers, agents or other intermediaries.