Waterloo Capital L.P. Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Waterloo Capital L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 547 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $307,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Progressive by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,222,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $194,662,000 after purchasing an additional 460,454 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total transaction of $2,259,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,412.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $256.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $231.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.02. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $137.59 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The company has a market cap of $150.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $230.00 to $262.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.12.

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.