The Progressive Corporation $PGR Stake Lifted by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Venturi Wealth Management increased its Progressive stake by 38.2% in the first quarter, adding 25,616 shares to bring its total to 92,656 shares worth about $18.4 million.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their views on PGR, but the stock’s overall rating remains Hold with a consensus price target of $237.58. Bank of America trimmed its target to $313 while keeping a buy rating, while Mizuho lowered its target to $223 and kept a neutral view.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS of $4.80 versus estimates of $4.67, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share payable July 10.

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 38.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 92,656 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 25,616 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $18,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,398,123,000 after buying an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $313.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $237.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% 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 valued at $3,165,817. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $224.11 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $201.86 and a 200-day moving average of $206.89. The firm has a market cap of $130.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $267.92.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Progressive 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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