31,220 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Purchased by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 31,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,820,000. Progressive comprises approximately 0.4% of Summit Global Investments’ portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $236.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.00.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $209.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $121.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $214.36 and a 200-day moving average of $206.47. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. The trade was a 7.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.