Southpoint Capital Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its stock position in The Progressive Corporation by 6.3%, owning a total of 850,000 shares worth approximately $240.56 million, marking it as the firm's second-largest investment.
• Progressive reported earnings of $4.88 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $20.08 billion, showing a year-over-year increase of 12.1%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, to be paid on October 10th, representing an annualized yield of 0.2%.

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 850,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 5.7% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned about 0.14% of Progressive worth $240,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 498.5% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.5% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,406,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $247.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $595,932.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 26,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,654,209.52. This trade represents a 8.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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