Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 213,865 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,307 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $48,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Progressive by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 2.0%

PGR opened at $204.12 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $198.93 and a 200 day moving average of $208.26. The company has a market cap of $119.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $269.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,733,600. This trade represents a 3.88% 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 sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 in the last three months. Company 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.