Mount Lucas Management LP Acquires 6,204 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Mount Lucas Management LP raised its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 301.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,262 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,204 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for about 0.8% of Mount Lucas Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Mount Lucas Management LP's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,750,829.82. This trade represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,972 shares of company stock valued at $11,764,581 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded up $2.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $250.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,805,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,033,992. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $146.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $264.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.96. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $208.13 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

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.