Entropy Technologies LP Makes New $5.70 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 21,363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 7.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.3%

Progressive stock opened at $225.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.07.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC set a $259.00 price objective on Progressive and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.71.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 41,987 shares of company stock valued at $10,257,508 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

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.