Ewa LLC Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ewa LLC lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Ewa LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth about $511,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1,480.9% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 0.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 47,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in Progressive by 5.2% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 575,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,153,000 after purchasing an additional 28,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $254.56 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $254.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,626,840. This represents a 9.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.