Hardy Reed LLC Buys New Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Hardy Reed LLC acquired 8,530 shares of Progressive in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.86 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $5.67, beating estimates by $1.03, while revenue reached $23.61 billion and increased 5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $235 target price. Progressive also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while insiders have sold approximately $15.9 million in stock over the past three months.

Hardy Reed LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,530 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,863,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,398,123,000 after buying an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Mizuho set a $236.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC boosted their price target on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.00.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:PGR opened at $209.48 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $214.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.47. The stock has a market cap of $121.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.01%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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