Principal Securities Inc. Acquires 1,171 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,357 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $4.61 on Friday, reaching $244.77. 3,182,460 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,809,480. The company has a market capitalization of $143.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $207.50 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $272.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. The trade was a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,191,955.98. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley downgraded Progressive from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.41.

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.