The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,934,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 214,016 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $440,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in 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 during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 12.0% during the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $200.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.58. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $278.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.