Raymond James Financial Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 14.4%, acquiring an additional 245,817 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1.95 million shares valued at $551.96 million.
• The Progressive Corporation reported $4.88 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $4.43, with a net margin of 12.66% and year-over-year revenue growth of 12.1%.
• Progressive's upcoming dividend of $0.10 per share will be paid out on October 10th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 2.25%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,950,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 245,817 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.33% of Progressive worth $551,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $1.6040 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $252.2440. The company had a trading volume of 2,790,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,246,536. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $252.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.40. The company has a market cap of $147.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,313 shares of company stock worth $28,349,549 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.53.

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.