Palestra Capital Management LLC Has $5.31 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Palestra Capital Management LLC has significantly reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 96.9%, now holding only 18,775 shares after selling 579,779 shares in Q1.
• Various hedge funds have altered their positions in Progressive, with Parkwood LLC increasing its stake by 86.4% during the same period, illustrating mixed institutional investor sentiments.
• Progressive's latest quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations, reporting $4.88 EPS, while the company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Palestra Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 96.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,775 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 579,779 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 0.2% of Palestra Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Palestra Capital Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $5,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkwood LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. Parkwood LLC now owns 90,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,669,000 after purchasing an additional 42,047 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,401,000. Plancorp LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 34.4% in the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 72,565 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,537,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $2.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $243.27. 2,627,728 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,620,588. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $142.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.32. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $247.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.25.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.18.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,742,703.04. The trade was a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.