Slide IPO: Shares of the Florida-based high-performing home insurer have begun trading

Preliminary trades in shares of the American insurance company Slide Insurance started in the trading system for Freedom clients. The securities are available by ticker SLDE.US. They will appear on the Nasdaq exchange later Wednesday. 

Slide Insurance and its shareholders raised $408 million in an expanded IPO. The company offered 24 million shares at $17 per paper. According to data Bloomberg, demand from long-term investors for Slide Insurance's shares significantly exceeded the volume of supply during the collection of applications.  

Initially, Slide Insurance planned to float 20 million shares at between $15 and $17 per paper. Placing that many shares at the top end of the range would have given Slide a market value of $2.1 billion. 

The IPO was organized by organizers Barclays and Morgan Stanley, as well as Citizens Capital Markets, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (a Stifel subsidiary) and Piper Sandler.

Slide Insurance was founded in 2021 by Bruce Lucas. He previously headed Florida-based Heritage Insurance and made it the fastest-growing insurance company in the country. Lucas' total compensation at Slide Insurance in 2024 was nearly $21.2 million, an amount that stands out even against the salaries of top executives at the nation's largest insurers, reports Reuters.

Slide offers insurance policies for individual homes and condominiums in Florida and South Carolina. The company's first-quarter 2025 profit soared 69% to $92.5 million. Nearly all of Slide's insurance portfolio (99.5%) is concentrated in Florida, a state where the company is looking to expand its presence, although some insurers are leaving that market because of the high risk of natural disasters, primarily hurricanes,

The valuation of Slide Insurance through the prism of the industry P/B multiple reveals a significant excess of the company's offering price over its market value, said Freedom Broker analyst Alem Bektemirov. According to his calculations, with the average P/B for the sector at 3.09x and Slide's equity of $532.4 million, the company's capitalization is $1.65 billion, or $13.16 per share - which is 22.6% below the IPO price.

Insurance companies are more protected from market downturns than other businesses: heightened uncertainty increases demand for their risk-reducing offerings, Reuters noted.

«The continuing tight market (characterized by rising insurance premiums, tighter insurance terms and reduced competition among insurers. - Oninvest) in the property and liability insurance segments is contributing to high underwriting margins, making insurers attractive candidates [for IPOs],» said IPOX vice president Kat Liu, as quoted by Reuters. 

Slide Insurance's financial performance reflects rapid revenue growth, margin expansion, and strong, albeit fluctuating, cash flows from operations, noted Seeking Alpha IPO market expert Donovan Jones. Slide is effective in generating insurance premiums and minimizing claims losses, he added. At an adequate valuation, high interest in the company's IPO can be expected given the company's solid growth and profitability trajectory, Jones said.

According to Seeking Alpha, the market for specialty property and liability (P&C) insurance on the U.S. East Coast is large and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. However, Slide Insurance's business is subject to significant risks associated with the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters. There is also the problem of geographic concentration in Florida, and the acquisition of large packages of insurance contracts from other insurers and the transfer of policies from a state-owned insurer to its portfolio may not provide sustainable growth in the long term, the expert warned.

In recent weeks, several insurance companies have gone public in the US. Aspen Insurance and American Integrity Insurance went public in May, while specialized insurer Ategrity Specialty Insurance went public last week. Trading in the shares of all three companies closed June 17 in New York in the plus side of the offering price: since the IPO, the securities of Aspen Insurance have added just under 7%, American Integrity Insurance - 3%, Ategrity - almost 39%.

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Freedom clients will be able to trade in Slide Insurance shares before the opening of the main exchange session. Trading will begin in the early pre-market format 2-3 hours before the opening of the US exchanges (from 15:30-16:30 Astana time). To participate, click on the ticker SLDE.US.