City State Bank Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

City State Bank increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. City State Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advance Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the second quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,967,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Progressive by 108.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $611,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 98,942 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,551,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.5% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 47,554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,877,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $3.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $214.01. 2,704,942 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,576,505. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $124.06 and a 1-year high of $229.00. The stock has a market cap of $125.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $211.43 and its 200 day moving average is $203.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results 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 business 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%. Progressive’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $4,859,739.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,836,041.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,168 shares of company stock valued at $22,937,984. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.