Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 99,196 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 73.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 99,196 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $48,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded down $5.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $219.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,207,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,598,983. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $118.75 and a 12 month high of $229.00. The firm has a market cap of $128.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $209.81 and a 200-day moving average of $198.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 974 shares in the company, valued at $213,383.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of Progressive 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $828,485.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,647 shares of company stock valued at $7,417,765. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.