Argent Trust Co Buys 123 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in Progressive by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 26,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,597,000 after purchasing an additional 3,864 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in shares of Progressive by 32.7% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 4,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 376.0% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,060 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 4,787 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 186.6% during the second quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note 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 MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Progressive Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $259.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.16 and its 200 day moving average is $217.06. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $137.59 and a 12-month high of $260.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.