Pacific Sage Partners LLC Buys Shares of 7,272 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Pacific Sage Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Progressive by 181.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after acquiring an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 19,724.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $806,614,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048,351 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Progressive by 193.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,206,742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $502,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

Progressive stock opened at $209.48 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $214.36 and its 200-day moving average is $206.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $121.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,595.70. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.