Joseph Group Capital Management Purchases 5,001 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 1.3% of Joseph Group Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.39.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $200.65 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $192.02 and a twelve month high of $289.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $203.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.45. The company has a market capitalization of $117.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

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.