Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 168,351 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 168,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,022,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 126.0% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

PGR stock opened at $254.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $137.59 and a 12 month high of $260.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $239.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.12.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,512 shares of company stock worth $33,912,874 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.