Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 565 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $240.18 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.54. The company has a market capitalization of $140.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.