Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired 1,614 shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) valued at approximately $457,000, as reported in their Form 13F filing.
• Analysts have adjusted price targets for Progressive, with Jefferies Financial Group lowering theirs from $309.00 to $287.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating, and overall, the stock has a consensus price target of $284.18.
• Progressive recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a payout ratio of 2.25%, indicating a yield of 0.2% based on its share price.

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,614 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $247.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,408,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,845,707. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive 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.