Central Securities Corp Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Central Securities Corp has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 4.8%, now holding 400,000 shares, which constitutes about 10.8% of its investment portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Progressive, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which boosted its stake by an astounding 39,285.0%.
• Analysts have recently lowered their price targets for Progressive, with Barclays setting a new target price of $287.00, while the stock currently holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Central Securities Corp lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 400,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 10.8% of Central Securities Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Central Securities Corp owned about 0.07% of Progressive worth $113,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,323,018,000 after acquiring an additional 153,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,972 shares of company stock worth $9,078,681. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $9.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $240.67. 5,549,639 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,551,047. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company's 50 day moving average price is $264.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $208.13 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

Progressive 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.