DRW Securities LLC Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

DRW Securities LLC grew its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 98.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,714 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the first quarter valued at $3,628,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 66.4% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in Progressive by 90.4% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,890,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total transaction of $466,421.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,383.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total transaction of $466,421.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,350 shares of company stock worth $34,691,584 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $257.60 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $137.59 and a 12-month high of $260.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.84. The company has a market capitalization of $150.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Barclays assumed coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

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.