The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Position Trimmed by Weik Capital Management

Weik Capital Management decreased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,410 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 8.0% of Weik Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Weik Capital Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $307,000. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $709,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,833,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $255.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 0.82 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.90. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $134.34 and a 1 year high of $256.74.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,354 shares of company stock valued at $33,502,680 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.