D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 12.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 74.8% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,622 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in Progressive by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 8,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.4%

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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $222.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.69. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.90 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $122.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $242.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $260.27.

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.