Second Line Capital LLC Purchases 409 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 0.8% of Second Line Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Second Line Capital LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 237.8% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,485,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $236,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 4,545.0% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $145,858,000 after purchasing an additional 690,060 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Progressive by 548.2% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 686,433 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Progressive by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after buying an additional 670,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $116,852,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six research 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.18.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $251.10 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $147.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $137.59 and a 52-week high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $237.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 $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 is currently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total value of $1,439,833.18. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,332 shares of company stock valued at $33,362,904 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.