Waverly Advisors LLC Has $12.67 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 99.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,897 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after buying an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $213.85 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $254.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.88 and a 200-day moving average of $205.87.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.11.

About Progressive

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.