Alaethes Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 7,828 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Alaethes Wealth LLC acquired 7,828 shares of The Progressive Corporation, valued at approximately $2.2 million, during the first quarter.
• Progressive's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations with an EPS of $4.88, compared to a consensus estimate of $4.43.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10, representing an annualized yield of 0.2%, to be paid on October 10th.

Alaethes Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,828 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,215,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $310,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,805,642,000 after acquiring an additional 396,567 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,771 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,859,000 after acquiring an additional 17,019 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $117,218,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,406 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,586,000 after acquiring an additional 4,540 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. The trade was a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of PGR traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $248.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,635,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,554,677. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $246.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.95. The stock has a market cap of $145.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Progressive from $344.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.82.

Progressive Company 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.