Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,338 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,400,000. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 20,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $199.83 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $201.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $116.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $191.75 and a twelve month high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.03%.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.