The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) was the target of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,280,000 shares, a decline of 16.2% from the October 31st total of 5,110,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. This represents a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $268.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.34. The stock has a market cap of $157.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. Progressive has a 1-year low of $149.14 and a 1-year high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Research analysts anticipate that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

About Progressive

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.