Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes $37.54 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 171,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,539,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $27,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $222.36 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $216.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.04. The company has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,595.70. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.