Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Acquires 10,400 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $21,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 900.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value 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 approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.09.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $212.52 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.90 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $124.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released 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). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued 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%.

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.