D.A. Davidson & CO. Grows Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 900.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $237.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, HSBC set a $259.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $260.27.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $209.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $222.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $199.90 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders 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 is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.