Ethic Inc. Has $22.11 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 3.8%, now owning 77,754 shares worth approximately $22.1 million.
• Recently, several hedge funds significantly modified their positions in Progressive, with institutional investors collectively holding 85.34% of the company's stock.
• The Progressive Corporation reported $4.88 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has announced a $0.10 quarterly dividend to be paid on October 10th.

Ethic Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,754 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 2,848 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $22,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Progressive by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of PGR traded down $3.93 on Friday, reaching $247.02. 3,425,649 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,207,112. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.51. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PGR. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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 report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.88.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 47,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,949,064.08. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 112,313 shares of company stock valued at $28,349,549. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.