The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) is Prospector Partners LLC's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Prospector Partners LLC reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 8.1% in Q1, holding 71,817 shares worth approximately $20.3 million, making it the 8th largest position in their portfolio.
• Progressive's stock price is currently at $247.02, with a one-year low of $228.54 and high of $292.99, reflecting a recent decline of 1.6%.
• The company reported $4.88 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, although its revenue was below projections at $20.08 billion.

Prospector Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 71,817 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,333 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 2.3% of Prospector Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Prospector Partners LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $20,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth 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 boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,088 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 1.6%

Progressive stock opened at $247.02 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The stock's fifty day moving average is $253.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.39.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,313 shares of company stock valued at $28,349,549 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $284.88.

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.

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