Vest Financial LLC Takes $9.34 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,015 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,344,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after buying an additional 3,174,632 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12,110.3% in the 1st quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,402 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $194,557,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $236.27 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $138.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Progressive 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.