Empirical Asset Management LLC Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $206.98 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current 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 $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $233.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% 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 Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Profile

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.