Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after buying an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $10,496,271,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 11.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,092,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.11.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $217.28 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93. The firm has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $214.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.46. 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 released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.47 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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