Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 108.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $611,000. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 98,942 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,551,000 after acquiring an additional 6,730 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 47,554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,877,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Progressive by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,046 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $3.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $214.01. 2,704,942 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,576,505. The firm has a market cap of $125.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $124.06 and a 52-week high of $229.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was 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 $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,357,996.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total value of $135,271.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,168 shares of company stock valued at $22,937,984 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.94.

Progressive 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.