Empower Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 294,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,771 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.05% of Progressive worth $78,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. This represents a 29.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,532,802.60. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,782 shares of company stock valued at $12,708,788. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Progressive from $266.00 to $246.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.46.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $225.23 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $199.90 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $231.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $132.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.