The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,398 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $16,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 13.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in Progressive by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Progressive by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9%

PGR stock opened at $214.97 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.17.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $242.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $227.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $260.74.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.