Cornerstone Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 79,542 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Cornerstone Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 79,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,376,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $233.16.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $203.98 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.43. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $254.93. The stock has a market cap of $118.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.