Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 11,100 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,100 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,141,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $267.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $204.62 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $276.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074 in the last quarter. Company 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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