RMR Wealth Builders Makes New Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• RMR Wealth Builders opened a new position in The Progressive Corporation, buying 8,201 shares in Q4 valued at approximately $1.868 million.
• Insiders sold 6,933 shares worth $1.44 million in the last quarter (including CIO Jonathan S. Bauer's sale of 2,266 shares), while institutional investors collectively own about 85.34% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Hold with an average target of $238.39 amid mixed guidance (e.g., Goldman Sachs buy at $225 vs. Morgan Stanley underweight at $190), and Progressive recently beat EPS estimates ($4.80 vs. $4.67) but missed revenue expectations.

RMR Wealth Builders acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,201 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Progressive by 30.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,381,000 after purchasing an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its position in Progressive by 1,614.1% in the third quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 20,338 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Progressive by 91.7% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Progressive by 40.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Progressive by 471.3% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,556,000 after purchasing an additional 18,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PGR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.39.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $200.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $117.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $192.02 and a 12-month high of $289.96. The business's fifty day moving average price is $203.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.08.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.37 EPS. Progressive's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.03%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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