Is The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) a sound stock to buy now? Prominent investors are taking an optimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets improved by 2 recently.
In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of metrics market participants can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a solid margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action surrounding The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR).
How have hedgies been trading The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 13% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital had the most valuable position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR), worth close to $62 million, comprising 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio. On Diamond Hill Capital’s heels is Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, which held a $20 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital, Claes Fornell’s CSat Investment Advisory and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.
Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Diamond Hill Capital, managed by Ric Dillon, initiated the largest position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR). Diamond Hill Capital had 62 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Claes Fornell’s CSat Investment Advisory also initiated a $10 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PGR positions are Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)?
Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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