Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,410,275 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 270,723 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for about 1.3% of Baird Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.76% of Progressive worth $963,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Progressive by 23,059.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 199,767,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,639,163,000 after purchasing an additional 198,904,705 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,496,271,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,682,342,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth $1,538,570,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $214.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $249.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $217.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.97. The company has a market cap of $124.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued 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 $236.26.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation, founded in 1937 and headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio, is an insurance company that primarily serves customers in the United States. The company is best known for its personal and commercial auto insurance businesses and distributes products through independent agents, direct channels and digital platforms.

Progressive offers a broad range of insurance products, including coverage for automobiles, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, homes and renters.

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