Winmill & CO. Inc. Makes New $17.21 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Winmill & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 78,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,000. Progressive accounts for 3.8% of Winmill & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth about $8,340,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,230,000. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd bought a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,120,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,807,000. Finally, Barbara Oil Co. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,620,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $219.45 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $252.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $215.53 and its 200-day moving average is $206.66.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $236.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.