HCR Wealth Advisors Makes New Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HCR Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,078,831,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Progressive by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 102.9% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $296,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,834 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $88,528,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares in the company, valued at $7,357,996.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,825 shares of company stock worth $3,337,741 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

PGR stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.91. 1,721,272 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,403,198. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $208.92 and its 200 day moving average is $185.22. The firm has a market cap of $119.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.63 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Progressive from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.