Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stock position in The Progressive Corporation by 54.5% in Q2, owning 274,118 shares valued at approximately $71.73 million.
• Progressive reported a Q2 earnings per share of $4.88, surpassing analysts' expectations, and experienced a 12.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a $0.10 quarterly dividend with a payout ratio of 2.25%, aimed to be paid on October 10th.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 274,118 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 96,741 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $71,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $327.00) on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.44.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This trade represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 130,062 shares of company stock valued at $32,217,635. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.1%

Progressive stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $242.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,778,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,152. The stock has a market cap of $142.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $245.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.47. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Progressive Profile

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.