Hixon Zuercher LLC Acquires New Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Hixon Zuercher LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,102 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,293,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.0% in the first quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 8,070 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,284,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $727,000. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 159.7% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 322 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.88.

Progressive Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of PGR stock traded down $6.55 on Wednesday, hitting $257.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,422,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,770,179. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $274.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $151.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $207.50 and a one year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Progressive Company 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.