Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

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

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on SLDE. Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 price target on Slide Insurance in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Slide Insurance in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Slide Insurance in a report on Monday. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of Slide Insurance from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Slide Insurance from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Slide Insurance presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $25.40.

Slide Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of SLDE opened at $20.65 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.04 and a beta of -0.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.27. Slide Insurance has a 12 month low of $12.53 and a 12 month high of $23.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Slide Insurance (NASDAQ:SLDE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.18. Slide Insurance had a net margin of 40.02% and a return on equity of 50.69%. The firm had revenue of $386.82 million during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that Slide Insurance will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Slide Insurance declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Slide Insurance

In related news, COO Shannon Lucas sold 45,000 shares of the business’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 value of $857,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,210,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,318. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Gries, Jr. sold 84,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $1,721,496.24. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,777,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,151,441.38. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,413,793 shares of company stock valued at $45,314,074 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 50.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Slide Insurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLDE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Slide Insurance by 298.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,687,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012,428 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Slide Insurance in the second quarter worth about $33,063,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Slide Insurance by 314.8% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,378,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,753,000 after buying an additional 1,045,826 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Slide Insurance by 1,375.7% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 892,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,388,000 after buying an additional 832,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Slide Insurance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,016,000.

About Slide Insurance

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.