The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC raised its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PGR. Bank of America increased their price objective on Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total value of $135,271.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,518 shares of company stock valued at $7,159,674 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE PGR traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,272,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,580,440. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $111.41 and a 52-week high of $217.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.27 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

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.