Hixon Zuercher LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hixon Zuercher LLC grew its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 43.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,175 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.8% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $215.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $126.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $200.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.86. 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 current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% 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 have sold a total of 8,230 shares of company stock worth $1,651,507 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.58.

About Progressive

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.