Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Grows Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,125 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Progressive were worth $47,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Progressive by 237.8% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,485,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $236,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,883 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4,545.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $145,858,000 after purchasing an additional 690,060 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 548.2% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 686,433 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew 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, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $116,852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the business’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 approximately $7,015,247.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,512 shares of company stock valued at $33,912,874. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $253.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $238.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.77. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $137.59 and a 12-month high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted 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 business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

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.