The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Purchased by Giverny Capital Inc.

Giverny Capital Inc. raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,928 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 4.0% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Giverny Capital Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $118,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC increased their price target on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.26.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2%

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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $217.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.81. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $249.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale 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, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,785.80. This trade represents a 3.77% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 113,714 shares of company stock valued at $24,466,294. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company 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.