Hixon Zuercher LLC Boosts Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 34.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,803 shares during the quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 1,885.7% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $262.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $252.00 to $247.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $270.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. This represents a 29.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $218.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $217.20 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $241.10 and a 200 day moving average of $256.39.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.19%.

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.