Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Invests $294,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $236,650,000 after buying an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 4,545.0% in the first 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 increased its stake 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 valued at $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 686,433 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $116,852,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $255.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $233.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.58. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $137.59 and a 52 week high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

About Progressive

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.