Ascent Group LLC Has $7.67 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,937 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,313 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $307,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,388 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 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 value of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total transaction of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,332 shares of company stock valued at $33,362,904 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $251.10 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $237.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $137.59 and a 52 week high of $260.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its 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 net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.