Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers acquired 157,731 shares of Progressive in the second quarter, valued at approximately $34.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.34% of the insurer.
• Analysts maintain a broadly neutral outlook, with 15 Hold, five Buy and two Sell ratings; the consensus target price is $233.16. Progressive recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.67 in EPS versus a $4.64 estimate and revenue of $23.61 billion.
• Progressive shares opened at $206.98, while insiders sold 82,224 shares worth $17.4 million in the last quarter under pre-arranged trading plans. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, equal to a 0.2% annualized yield.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 157,731 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $34,456,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $233.16.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 in the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $206.98 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93. The business's fifty day moving average is $214.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $120.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

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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