Savant Capital LLC Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,490 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in Progressive by 126.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,354 shares of company stock worth $33,502,680 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PGR opened at $251.28 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $134.34 and a twelve month high of $254.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.41. The company has a market cap of $147.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.19 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.24.

Progressive 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.