The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,280,000 shares, a decrease of 16.2% from the October 31st total of 5,110,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. This represents a 33.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 206.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $268.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Progressive has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $157.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $254.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.65.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

About Progressive

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.