New Vernon Investment Management LLC Has $4.96 Million Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• New Vernon Investment Management LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 396.9% during the first quarter, making it the fund's third largest position with holdings valued at approximately $4.95 million.
• CEO Susan Patricia Griffith and CFO John P. Sauerland sold significant amounts of Progressive stock on July 28th, reducing their ownership by 5.70% and 6.81%, respectively.
• Progressive recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, resulting in a 0.2% dividend yield for shareholders.

New Vernon Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 396.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,517 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 13,992 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 6.6% of New Vernon Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Progressive by 6,350.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 117,072 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,133,000 after buying an additional 30,964 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,228 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,755,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Nine 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.18.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,351 shares of company stock worth $27,003,746. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $245.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,353,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,222,724. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $249.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.09. 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 company has a market cap of $144.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's 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.