Bank of Montreal Can Has $186.87 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 895,621 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 51,693 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.15% of Progressive worth $186,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 11.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.4% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.2% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.0% in the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,384.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,384.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,350 shares of company stock valued at $34,691,584 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $257.60 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.84. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $137.59 and a 1 year high of $260.46. The company has a market capitalization of $150.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Progressive Company 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.