Summit Financial LLC Invests $343,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 85,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,452 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 68,634 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,561,000 after buying an additional 6,386 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 128,982 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,967,000 after buying an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Bensler LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 2.0% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 44,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,203,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $208.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $203.96 and its 200-day moving average is $179.25. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $216.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

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.