Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Has $100,000 Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 56.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,090,000. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its position in Progressive by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,788,000 after acquiring an additional 4,983 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 210,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,742,363.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,518 shares of company stock valued at $7,159,674. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.81.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $211.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $123.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.23. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.