Haverford Trust Co Takes $1.14 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Haverford Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,140,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allstate Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,447,000. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,429,000 after buying an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,906,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $219.45 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $215.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $252.82. The company has a market cap of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,595.70. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $7,942,165.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.