Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 1,031 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,369 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 37,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,809 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 55.4% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 148.5% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 387,455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,478,000 after acquiring an additional 231,567 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,477,000. Finally, Capco Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Capco Asset Management LLC now owns 333,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,742,363.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $259.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $234.16 and a 200 day moving average of $217.06. The company has a market capitalization of $151.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $137.59 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. HSBC raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

Progressive Company Profile

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.