Prospector Partners LLC Has $23.87 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 114,895 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 2.7% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $23,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,703,318,000 after buying an additional 285,070 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,885,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $778,199,000 after acquiring an additional 19,724 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,577,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $569,861,000 after purchasing an additional 86,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,392,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $497,003,000 after buying an additional 69,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,742,363.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.18.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5 %

PGR stock opened at $259.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $234.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.25. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $137.59 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.