29,699 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Acquired by Tortoise Investment Management LLC

Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 29,699 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,488,000. Progressive comprises about 0.5% of Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,496,271,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $1,098,838,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 181.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,481,615,000 after buying an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 19,724.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $806,614,000 after buying an additional 4,048,351 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $233.16.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $203.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $254.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be 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 is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total transaction of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently 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.