Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. acquired 75,600 shares of The Progressive Corporation valued at around $20.2 million in the second quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the insurance provider.
• Progressive's stock price recently opened at $221.72, with a twelve-month high of $292.99, and the firm reported earnings per share of $4.45 for the quarter, missing expectations by $0.59.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.2%, indicating a modest return on investment for shareholders.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 75,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,175,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,763 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,046,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 68,787 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,467,000 after buying an additional 3,787 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1%

PGR stock opened at $221.72 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $217.20 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $129.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.32. The business's 50-day moving average price is $242.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.18.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,679,806.24. The trade was a 29.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 target price on Progressive and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $270.40.

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.

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