Eventide Asset Management LLC Makes New $3.44 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased 12,263 shares of The Progressive Corporation, valued at approximately $3.4 million, during the first quarter.
• Progressive's CEO, Susan Griffith, sold 30,660 shares for over $7.4 million, reflecting a 5.7% decrease in her ownership position.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments about Progressive, with nine rated as Buy and nine as Hold, while price targets were adjusted down to an average of $284.18.

Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,263 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,436,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $4,114,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 156.8% in the first quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 19,046 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,390,000 after buying an additional 11,629 shares in the last quarter. Belmont Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $580,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.2% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after buying an additional 1,091,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,466,664.72. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE PGR traded down $5.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $243.76. 1,690,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,616,163. The stock has a market cap of $142.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $247.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.56. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $228.54 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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