Board of the Pension Protection Fund Takes $1.31 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,308,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. GenTrust LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Barclays set a $271.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.63.

Progressive Stock Down 0.8%

PGR stock opened at $240.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.65. The stock has a market cap of $140.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.