Versant Capital Management Inc Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 108.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $214.01. 2,704,942 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,576,505. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $124.06 and a 52-week high of $229.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $211.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $828,485.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total value of $135,271.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $828,485.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,168 shares of company stock worth $22,937,984 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive 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.