MW Advisory LLC Acquires New Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

MW Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in Progressive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 2.4% during the second quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,857,785.80. This trade represents a 3.77% 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 sold a total of 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of PGR opened at $218.41 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $249.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $217.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.79. The firm has a market cap of $126.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS 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 return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. HSBC upped their target price on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.26.

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.