CoreCap Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 234.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,171 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,156,939,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Progressive by 32.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,548,217,000 after buying an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $117,057,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Progressive by 154.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 673,646 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $179,769,000 after acquiring an additional 408,779 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $209.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.69. The company has a market cap of $122.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $199.90 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Progressive from $301.38 to $300.60 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $260.27.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.