Covey Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Covey Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,909 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 6.1% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,022,507,000 after buying an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,836,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $973,479,000 after buying an additional 39,675 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $266.86 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.89 and its 200 day moving average is $232.95. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $156.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. 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.