Arizona State Retirement System Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 169,791 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Progressive were worth $35,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,045,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $218,973,000 after buying an additional 416,973 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $760,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $576,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $262.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’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 $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Progressive 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 transaction of $135,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’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 transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 147,354 shares of company stock worth $33,502,680. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $248.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $224.65 and a 200 day moving average of $212.25. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $134.34 and a 52-week high of $254.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.