The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 150,262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $31,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 79,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,718,000 after acquiring an additional 3,863 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $434,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $1,525,567.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,168 shares of company stock worth $22,937,984 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $0.72 on Thursday, reaching $213.40. 763,747 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,569,655. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $124.06 and a 12 month high of $229.00. The firm has a market cap of $124.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $210.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Progressive Company Profile

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.