Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New $728,000 Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth $3,628,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 66.4% during the 1st 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 period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,890,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $253.76 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.77. The firm has a market cap of $148.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,512 shares of company stock worth $33,912,874. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.