R Squared Ltd Makes New $2.12 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,115,000. Progressive makes up about 1.2% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $306,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth $13,583,000. Trust Co. of Oklahoma bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $439,000. Belmont Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter valued at $580,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its position in Progressive by 87.9% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $117,218,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $220.52 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $217.20 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $241.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.70.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,778 shares of company stock valued at $31,683,756 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PGR. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 price target on Progressive and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $270.40.

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.