The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) is Senator Investment Group LP’s 9th Largest Position

Senator Investment Group LP cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 107,500 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 3.1% of Senator Investment Group LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Senator Investment Group LP owned 0.05% of Progressive worth $63,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,628,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 66.4% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Progressive by 90.4% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $1,890,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating 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 objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total transaction of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,332 shares of company stock worth $33,362,904 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $251.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $137.59 and a one year high of $260.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.