Vest Financial LLC Has $33.60 Million Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 71.2% in Q4 to 147,535 shares, worth about $33.6 million.
• Wall Street currently has a consensus "Hold" rating on PGR with an average price target of $238.39 (6 Buy, 14 Hold, 2 Sell).
• Progressive beat EPS estimates ($4.80 vs. $4.67) but missed revenue expectations ($22.19B vs. $23.51B), and insiders sold 6,933 shares (~$1.44M) in the last 90 days, leaving insiders with 0.32% ownership.

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 71.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,535 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 61,333 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $33,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $202.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $192.02 and a 52 week high of $289.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $203.33 and a 200-day moving average of $212.80.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. Progressive's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's 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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