Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 486.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,628,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Progressive by 66.4% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $1,890,000. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in Progressive by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,383 shares of company stock worth $33,446,453 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $250.83. The stock had a trading volume of 302,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,488,232. The company has a market cap of $146.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.35. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $149.14 and a 12-month high of $260.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.76.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 4.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Barclays began coverage on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $319.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.81.

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.