J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,108 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 66.4% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.4% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.18.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE PGR opened at $257.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $150.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.31. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $137.59 and a 52 week high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. Progressive’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total transaction of $2,104,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,742,363.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

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.