Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Purchases 8,038 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 13.9%, now owning 65,978 shares valued at approximately $18.67 million.
• CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares at an average price of $242.12, reducing her ownership by 5.70%.
• Progressive's stock has seen mixed ratings from analysts, with an average price target of $284.88 and ten analysts rating it a hold.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,978 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,038 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 72.1% in the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 30,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,640,000 after buying an additional 12,793 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.5% in the first quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 5,304 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,501,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,950,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $551,961,000 after buying an additional 245,817 shares in the last quarter. Boston Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $247,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.8% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 77,754 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $22,105,000 after buying an additional 2,848 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 112,313 shares of company stock valued at $28,349,549. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $1.6040 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $252.2440. The company had a trading volume of 3,662,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,255,443. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock's 50-day moving average is $252.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.53.

About Progressive

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.