Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $845,000 in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC has invested approximately $845,000 in The Progressive Corporation, acquiring 2,985 shares of the insurance provider's stock during the first quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings on Progressive show mixed sentiments, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock to "hold," while other firms like Bank of America and Jefferies maintain "buy" ratings with slight adjustments in target prices.
• Progressive reported strong quarterly earnings, with $4.88 EPS, surpassing expectations, although its revenue of $20.08 billion fell short of the consensus estimate.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,985 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $845,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

Progressive Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $245.36 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $214.99 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $143.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $257.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This trade represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive 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.

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