Focus Financial Network Inc. Raises Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,703,318,000 after buying an additional 285,070 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Progressive by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,378,951,000 after purchasing an additional 520,742 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,078,831,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Progressive by 15.7% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,885,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $778,199,000 after buying an additional 19,724 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded down $2.51 on Wednesday, reaching $236.24. 613,193 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,544,124. The stock has a market cap of $138.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $129.31 and a 12 month high of $240.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,441 shares of company stock valued at $25,111,350 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.