73,974 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by JLB & Associates Inc.

JLB & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 73,974 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,160,000. Progressive comprises approximately 2.2% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 700.0% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $206.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $214.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.39. The firm has a market cap of $120.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC boosted their target price on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.16.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the business’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 value of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% 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 have sold a total of 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive 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.