Bridges Investment Management Inc. Acquires 232,634 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 117.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 431,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 232,634 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 1.4% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Bridges Investment Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Progressive worth $89,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 10,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,369 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 37,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,809 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 148.5% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 387,455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,478,000 after purchasing an additional 231,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $255.17 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $137.59 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.58. The company has a market capitalization of $149.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total value of $1,439,833.18. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

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.