Alpha Family Trust Purchases New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Alpha Family Trust acquired a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,090,000. Invesco LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $3.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $224.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,521,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,594,543. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $117.64 and a 12 month high of $229.00.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup cut their target price on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.94.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares in the company, valued at $7,357,996.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,518 shares of company stock worth $6,951,344 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.