Caxton Associates LP Invests $582,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,804 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 119.6% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hilltop National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 126.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.18.

Progressive Stock Down 1.8 %

Progressive stock opened at $252.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $236.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.52. The company has a market cap of $147.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $137.59 and a 1-year high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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

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 stock was 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 directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total value of $1,439,833.18. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,316 shares in the company, valued at $7,600,400.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,332 shares of company stock worth $33,362,904. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.