LVZ Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

LVZ Inc. increased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. LVZ Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth $33,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 119.0% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4%

PGR stock opened at $261.26 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $204.88 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $275.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.47. 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 company has a market cap of $153.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 28,888 shares in the company, valued at $8,025,375.28. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,157 shares of company stock valued at $9,352,400. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.88.

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.