Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,309 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $418,000. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.6% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,937 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 11.4% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Kearns & Associates LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total value of $135,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total value of $135,271.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,984 shares of company stock worth $22,564,766. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $252.30 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $133.15 and a 52-week high of $254.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $147.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $222.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.70.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.