New Century Financial Group LLC Purchases New Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 sold a total of 34,518 shares of company stock worth $7,159,674 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $210.27 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $217.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Progressive from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.81.

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.