Bessemer Group Inc. Has $5.49 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,683 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,492 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Avalon Trust Co grew its position in shares of Progressive by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 120,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,794,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $520,000. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 28.9% in the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 2,340 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $5,996,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,633,152.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE PGR opened at $212.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.22. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

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.