Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded up $3.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $245.57. 2,640,440 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,537,211. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.97. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.27 and a fifty-two week high of $245.93. The stock has a market cap of $143.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $828,485.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,441 shares of company stock valued at $25,111,350. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Company 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.