Financial Management Professionals Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 69.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,078,831,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Progressive by 14.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Progressive by 237.8% during the fourth 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. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the first quarter valued at $188,642,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 279.2% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 811,381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,237,000 after purchasing an additional 597,401 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of PGR opened at $207.71 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $217.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $209.49 and a 200 day moving average of $193.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,518 shares of company stock valued at $5,055,674. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $216.81.

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.