37,138 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by JGP Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• JGP Wealth Management acquired 37,138 Progressive shares worth approximately $7.7 million, while institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Progressive reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $5.67 per share versus the $4.64 consensus estimate and revenue of $23.61 billion, up 5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $237.35 average price target; shares opened at $220.18, while insiders have sold roughly $23.0 million of stock over the past three months.

JGP Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,699,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $10,496,271,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $2,682,342,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $1,538,570,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,098,838,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $935,172,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% 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 have sold a total of 106,782 shares of company stock worth $22,965,332 in the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $228.00 price target (up from $213.00) on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Progressive from $236.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $237.35.

Progressive Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of PGR opened at $220.18 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $214.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.04. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $241.01. 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 firm has a market cap of $128.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Progressive's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 18.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is an insurance holding company that provides personal and commercial insurance products in the United States. Its primary business is automobile insurance, serving consumers through direct channels, independent agents and other distribution partners.

The company offers coverage for personal vehicles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, boats and other specialty vehicles. Its personal insurance portfolio also includes homeowners, renters, condominium and other property coverage, while its commercial business provides insurance for commercial vehicles and related risks.

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