Davis Asset Management L.P. Buys New Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Davis Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 504,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $110,210,000. Progressive accounts for 2.8% of Davis Asset Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $27,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

PGR opened at $219.45 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $252.82. The firm has a market cap of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.05.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of Progressive 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 $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,637.50. The trade was a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.