10,752 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Purchased by Aurora Investment Counsel

Key Points

• Aurora Investment Counsel opened a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter, buying 10,752 shares valued at about $2.45 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their Progressive stakes, and institutions now own 85.34% of the company’s shares.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected EPS in its latest quarter and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $238.11 price target.

Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,448,000. Progressive makes up 1.3% of Aurora Investment Counsel's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in Progressive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 7,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $4,267,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% 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 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $202.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $269.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.05.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Argus raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.11.

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.

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