Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Purchases Shares of 4,181 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of PGR opened at $219.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $215.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.64. The stock has a market cap of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $252.82.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.