B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $1.37 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.4% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $306,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP grew its position in Progressive by 199.0% in the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after acquiring an additional 6,263 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth about $13,583,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $647,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. The trade was a 29.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,673 shares of company stock valued at $4,163,005. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho set a $242.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.92.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $236.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.19. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $199.90 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $138.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.19%.

Progressive Company 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.