Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Progressive by 32.8% in the first quarter, buying 8,717 additional shares and bringing its total to 35,260 shares worth about $6.99 million.
• Progressive reported solid quarterly results, posting earnings of $4.80 per share, ahead of analyst estimates, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year to $22.19 billion.
• The insurer also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10, though the yield remains modest at 0.2%.

Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 32.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,717 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Progressive were worth $6,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $5.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $237.63. 602,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,290,814. The firm has a market cap of $138.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $203.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.60. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Progressive from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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