Cetera Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in Progressive by 95.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Exos TFP Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 270.0% in the 1st quarter. Exos TFP Holdings LLC now owns 222 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. 83.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $128.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $163.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Progressive from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $120.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.47.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $159.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $161.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.14. The company has a market cap of $93.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.43.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The insurance provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $15.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.66 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 17.36%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.46, for a total transaction of $1,565,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,812,763.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Barbara R. Snyder sold 21,731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,892,178.79. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,724.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.46, for a total transaction of $1,565,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 297,507 shares in the company, valued at $38,812,763.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,021 shares of company stock valued at $9,594,007. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, 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.