BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 112,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,094 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $23,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 126.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $256.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $235.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.25. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $137.59 and a 12-month high of $260.46. The stock has a market cap of $150.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 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 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,626,840. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,626,840. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 154,332 shares of company stock worth $35,466,904. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.