37,095 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Investment House LLC

Key Points

• Investment House LLC opened a new position in Progressive, buying 37,095 shares in the fourth quarter worth about $8.45 million.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter, with EPS of $4.80 versus the $4.67 consensus estimate, though revenue came in below expectations at $22.19 billion.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $238.39.

Investment House LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 37,095 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,447,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its position in shares of Progressive by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $203.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.37. 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 twelve month low of $191.75 and a twelve month high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Progressive Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PGR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.