52,162 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Purchased by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 52,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,468,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $27,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. HSBC increased their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group raised 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $223.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $130.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $215.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.82. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 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 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,370,900. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.