The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 257,613 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,017 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $72,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the first quarter valued at $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $1.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $240.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,201,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,286,200. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $141.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $260.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.01.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 15.0%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% 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.