EP Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 62 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,090,000. Invesco LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after buying an additional 4,983 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $4,859,739.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,836,041.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $4,859,739.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,836,041.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,168 shares of company stock worth $22,937,984. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.94.

Progressive Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $2.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $215.68. 1,972,284 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,573,005. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.33. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $124.06 and a 52-week high of $229.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $210.37 and its 200-day moving average is $200.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.