Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys New Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allstate Corp boosted its position in Progressive by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after buying an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $8,447,000. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $173,429,000 after buying an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $353,906,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $209.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $214.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.47. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,595.70. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

Progressive Company 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.