D.B. Root & Company LLC Acquires New Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. HSBC raised their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.81.

Progressive Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE PGR opened at $207.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $217.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $209.49 and its 200 day moving average is $193.84. The stock has a market cap of $121.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,518 shares of company stock worth $5,055,674. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.