Sowell Financial Services LLC Makes New Investment in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total value of $351,985.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,025,375.28. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,517 shares of company stock worth $9,451,821. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $265.55 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $204.88 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $276.09 and its 200-day moving average is $264.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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.