Polar Capital Holdings Plc Reduces Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Polar Capital Holdings Plc lowered its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 453,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 16,136 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc owned 0.08% of Progressive worth $103,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:PGR opened at $204.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $119.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $267.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.60.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.03%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 over the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.