Nvest Financial LLC Purchases 127 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Nvest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Progressive comprises approximately 1.2% of Nvest Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $306,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma bought a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $439,000. Belmont Capital LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $580,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in Progressive by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 414,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $117,218,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PGR shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Progressive from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $226.36 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $217.20 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.89. The company has a market cap of $132.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

About Progressive

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.