Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $76.94 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation to approximately $76.94 million, acquiring over 30,000 additional shares during the 1st quarter.
• Recent brokerage reports indicate a general trend of decreasing price objectives for PGR, with UBS Group and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowering their targets to around $268.00, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Insiders, including CFO John P. Sauerland, sold a total of 104,250 shares in the past 90 days, reflecting a significant decrease in their ownership positions.

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,856 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 30,142 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $76,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $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. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 919 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,332 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. This represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $2.16 on Thursday, reaching $245.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,042,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,702,400. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $214.99 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $257.56 and a 200 day moving average of $266.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 15.0%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

About Progressive

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.