HRT Financial LP Acquires Shares of 235,616 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

HRT Financial LP bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 235,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $62,876,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Progressive by 6,350.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 127 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 other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 17,673 shares of company stock valued at $4,163,005 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $234.61 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $224.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.97. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $199.90 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $137.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $246.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.40.

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.