Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC Grows Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 1,792.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,976 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at $5,633,152.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 8,230 shares of company stock worth $1,651,507 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Progressive from $222.00 to $219.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.58.

Progressive Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $220.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $201.02 and a 200-day moving average of $206.81. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $267.92.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.91 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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.