North Star Investment Management Corp. Increases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after buying an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.2% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after buying an additional 1,091,828 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 6.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,805,642,000 after acquiring an additional 396,567 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth $1,473,180,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PGR shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,045 shares of company stock valued at $34,635,290. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $242.18 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $141.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.25%.

Progressive Company 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.