1248 Management LLC Makes New $168,000 Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $168,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $199,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 58,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $113,456,000. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9%

PGR stock opened at $248.69 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $246.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.95. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $145.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.82.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.