Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 235.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 700.0% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $209.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $254.93. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

About Progressive

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.