Cibc World Market Inc. Takes $8.34 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 38,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,340,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $76,260,000. Allstate Corp increased its position in Progressive by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,136,000 after buying an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth $3,025,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.05.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0%

PGR stock opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $216.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.94. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $249.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,370,900. This trade represents a 7.59% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Progressive

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.