Peak Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Peak Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 2.1%

PGR opened at $223.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $130.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $215.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $249.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Company 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.