Fairscale Capital LLC Takes $77,000 Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 66.4% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in Progressive by 90.4% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,354,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $259.24 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $137.59 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total transaction of $2,104,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total transaction of $2,104,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,247.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,654 shares of company stock valued at $32,727,488. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.