Vest Financial LLC Invests $9.34 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 35,015 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,344,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 7.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.1% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 13.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 4.0% during the first quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3.5% during the first quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $236.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $245.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $138.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its 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 net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 currently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive 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 sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 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.