D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,219 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,289,037,000 after acquiring an additional 622,590 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,805,642,000 after purchasing an additional 396,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,473,180,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. This represents a 29.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $220.52 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $241.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.70. The company has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $217.20 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 target price on Progressive and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Progressive from $266.00 to $246.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $270.00 to $262.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $270.40.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.