The Progressive Corporation $PGR Holdings Raised by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 21.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,844 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 1.8% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.0% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,763 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Birch Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 1.7% during the second quarter. Birch Financial Group LLC now owns 4,194 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its stake in Progressive by 216.3% in the second quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 46,922 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,250,000 after purchasing an additional 32,087 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC increased its position in Progressive by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC now owns 3,613 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC increased their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the 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 $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.7%

PGR opened at $208.84 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $121.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

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.