The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Purchased by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 99.1% during the first quarter, owning 37,840 shares worth approximately $10.7 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Progressive reported $4.88 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.43, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.1%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.2%, payable to investors of record on October 2nd.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 99.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 18,837 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter valued at $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 39,285.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S increased its holdings in Progressive by 12,110.3% in the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,374,000 after buying an additional 1,238,402 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $3.2150 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $250.3050. The stock had a trading volume of 859,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,240,616. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $252.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.51. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $146.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $795,324.84. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,465,387.48. This represents a 7.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 112,313 shares of company stock worth $28,349,549. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.