RNC Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.18 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

RNC Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,183,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 30.2% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,381,000 after buying an additional 23,833 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,614.1% during the third quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,334,000 after buying an additional 20,338 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 91.7% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Progressive by 471.3% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,556,000 after purchasing an additional 18,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Progressive by 32.4% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 67,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,559,000 after purchasing an additional 16,398 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $199.49 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $203.18 and its 200-day moving average is $212.01. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $192.02 and a 12-month high of $289.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $116.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.