Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Progressive Call Options (NYSE:PGR)

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 641,904 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 21,419% compared to the typical volume of 2,983 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday. Finally, William Blair cut Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.98.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of PGR opened at $227.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $223.11 and its 200 day moving average is $238.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Progressive has a 12-month low of $199.90 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $133.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.19%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.