Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $56.35 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 9.6%, holding 199,103 shares valued at approximately $56.35 million at the end of Q1.
• Progressive reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.88, exceeding analyst expectations, with a net margin of 12.66% and revenue of $20.08 billion.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.2%, set to be paid on October 10th to investors of record on October 2nd.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,103 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 17,380 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $56,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Progressive by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,649 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth approximately $264,000. Seven Mile Advisory raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 11.3% in the first quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 996 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. George Kaiser Family Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth approximately $303,000. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.9% in the first quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 65,978 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $18,670,000 after purchasing an additional 8,038 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $247.02 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.51. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $228.54 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $144.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors 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%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,313 shares of company stock valued at $28,349,549 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $284.88.

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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