10,752 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Aurora Investment Counsel

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 10,752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,448,000. Progressive accounts for about 1.3% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $202.86 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $269.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

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.