Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC Makes New Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,401,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Progressive by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Belmont Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $580,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,893,000 after buying an additional 33,864 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $3,141,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $243.76 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $142.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $247.98 and a 200-day moving average of $265.58.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,958,001.74. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 45,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,466,664.72. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Profile

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.