The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Short Interest Update

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Five 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $268.88 on Friday. Progressive has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.48.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. On average, analysts predict that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value 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. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.2% during the third 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 during 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 worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after buying an additional 590,235 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.