Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in 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 valued at $236,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 4,545.0% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $145,858,000 after purchasing an additional 690,060 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Progressive by 548.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 686,433 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 15.7% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $116,852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $256.91 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $150.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.02. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $137.59 and a twelve month high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.12.

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.