Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 142,193 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 142,193 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,062,000. Progressive comprises approximately 1.5% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $76,260,000. Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,025,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $223.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $130.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $249.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $215.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.05.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total value of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,908,847.43. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.