Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,043 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,496,271,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,398,123,000 after buying an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $223.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.82. The stock has a market cap of $130.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,595.70. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $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.