The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Position Lifted by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 90.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Baldwin Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $225,000. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 0.4% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 115,404 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,285,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Progressive by 2.2% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 17,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,464,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $268.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979. 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.