Founders Financial Alliance LLC Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Founders Financial Alliance LLC has invested approximately $3.5 million in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR), acquiring 12,351 shares during the first quarter of the year.
• Progressive's stock has recently seen a slight decline of 0.9%, with current trading around $245.36, and has market cap of $143.83 billion.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.88 for the last quarter, outperforming analyst expectations, despite revenue being slightly below forecasts.

Founders Financial Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,351 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,496,000. Progressive makes up approximately 0.8% of Founders Financial Alliance LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Nine equities 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 price target of $286.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $246.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,118,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,590,031. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $217.91 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $256.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.