Prospector Partners LLC Trims Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Prospector Partners LLC cut its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,060 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 1.6% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 450.0% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $336,973.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,573.10. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,443 shares of company stock worth $2,723,061 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $203.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $197.92 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $119.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $213.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.14.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. William Blair cut Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $227.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.35.

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.