Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 338,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,911,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,691,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,015,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,646,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $330,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $217.28 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.46. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $254.93. The firm has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.47 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.