Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $974,000 Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $306,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Oklahoma acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $439,000. Belmont Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $580,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,218,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5%

Progressive stock opened at $241.90 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $228.54 and a 52 week high of $292.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $141.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.98.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $271.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.63.

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.