Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 42.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,318 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $61,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $204.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $199.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.60. The stock has a market cap of $119.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $267.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. 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.