Giverny Capital Inc. Has $149.76 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Giverny Capital Inc. has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 3.1%, now owning 529,154 shares valued at approximately $149.76 million, which constitutes 5.5% of its total portfolio.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Susan Patricia Griffith selling 30,660 shares for over $7.4 million, reducing her ownership to 506,945 shares.
• Progressive recently reported earnings of $4.88 per share, exceeding estimates, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share payable on October 10th.

Giverny Capital Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 529,154 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 16,702 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 5.5% of Giverny Capital Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Giverny Capital Inc. owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $149,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in Progressive by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,088 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,313 shares of company stock worth $28,349,549 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $284.88.

Progressive Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $247.02 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business's 50 day moving average is $253.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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