The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Csenge Advisory Group

Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 270.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,020 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth $2,156,939,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after buying an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $117,057,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Progressive by 154.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 673,646 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $179,769,000 after acquiring an additional 408,779 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $202.35 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $222.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.97. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.90 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, 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 transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Progressive from $301.38 to $300.60 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $237.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC set a $259.00 price target on Progressive and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, William Blair lowered Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.39.

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.