3,291 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Bought by SCS Capital Management LLC

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,291 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PGR. HSBC boosted their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at $111,199,682.96. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.1%

PGR opened at $209.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.46. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.