Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys New Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 54,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,923,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 700.0% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE PGR opened at $209.48 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $121.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $214.36 and its 200 day moving average is $206.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.00.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.