VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 489,000 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 489,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $106,822,000. Progressive accounts for approximately 0.6% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Progressive by 235.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Progressive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.26.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $218.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $217.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.81. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $249.71. The firm has a market cap of $126.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the transaction, the insider 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.50, for a total value of $8,195,691.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 485,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,553,641. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.