125,430 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC has invested approximately $35.50 million in The Progressive Corporation by acquiring 125,430 shares in the 1st quarter of the year.
• The Progressive Corporation recently reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for its latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.45.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, which will be paid to stockholders on October 10th, representing an annualized yield of 0.2%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 125,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $35,498,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during 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 period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $4.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,523,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,244,464. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock's 50 day moving average is $252.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.51. The firm has a market cap of $147.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $228.54 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, 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 transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 112,313 shares of company stock valued at $28,349,549. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.53.

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.