Mitchell Capital Management Co. Takes $2.72 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Mitchell Capital Management Co. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,041 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,721,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 210.0% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $240.18 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $245.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $140.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given 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 was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. The trade was a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Barclays set a $271.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.63.

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.