Raymond James & Associates Buys 8,713 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,101,866 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,713 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.19% of Progressive worth $228,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE PGR traded down $0.89 on Friday, hitting $235.88. 2,600,504 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,387,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $129.31 and a twelve month high of $238.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $214.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 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 $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,319 shares of company stock worth $23,671,517. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.41.

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.