Marshfield Associates Buys 63,996 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Marshfield Associates increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 7.3%, now holding 937,242 shares valued at approximately $265 million.
• Progressive recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a yield of 0.2%, to be paid on October 10th.
• Analysts have mixed views on Progressive's stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.18.

Marshfield Associates grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 937,242 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,996 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 5.7% of Marshfield Associates' holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Marshfield Associates owned about 0.16% of Progressive worth $265,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Progressive by 498.5% in the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.5% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,406,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. 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 report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.18.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $247.03 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $249.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $228.54 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,958,001.74. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total transaction of $1,557,750.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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