Trust Co. of Vermont Has $491,000 Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Progressive were worth $491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,078,831,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 237.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,045,883 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at $188,642,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4,545.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $145,858,000 after acquiring an additional 690,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 548.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 686,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the business’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 $4,859,739.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,836,041.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the company’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 $4,859,739.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,836,041.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,168 shares of company stock valued at $22,937,984 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $214.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,704,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,576,505. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.40. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $124.06 and a one year high of $229.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. Progressive’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

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.