HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Invests $811,000 in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,810 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $811,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $720,000. Horizon Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $1,463,000. 1ST Source Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $306,000. Finally, Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth $254,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock worth $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:PGR opened at $209.48 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $214.36 and its 200-day moving average is $206.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $254.93. The firm has a market cap of $121.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business 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%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Progressive 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.