Clough Capital Partners L P Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Clough Capital Partners L P acquired 16,800 shares of The Progressive Corporation, valued at approximately $4.76 million, in the first quarter.
• Insider sales have occurred recently, with Lori A. Niederst selling 8,063 shares for over $2 million, indicating a 17.12% decrease in ownership.
• The Progressive Corporation reported $4.88 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a forecasted 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,800 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,755,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Progressive by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,958,001.74. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total transaction of $1,557,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. The trade was a 22.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.18.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded down $1.23 on Tuesday, reaching $245.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,346,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,222,655. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $228.54 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $249.30 and a 200-day moving average of $266.09. The company has a market capitalization of $144.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

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.