Carnegie Investment Counsel Acquires 6,730 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 287,218 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,730 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 1.9% of Carnegie Investment Counsel's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Progressive were worth $81,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1%

PGR stock traded up $2.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $250.22. 2,805,287 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,033,992. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $208.13 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $146.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's fifty day moving average is $264.25 and its 200-day moving average is $266.12.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 238,024 shares in the company, valued at $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.54, for a total transaction of $313,633.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,523,669.16. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,972 shares of company stock valued at $11,764,581. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

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.