95,611 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 95,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,021,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $76,260,000. Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,136,000 after acquiring an additional 22,915 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $3,025,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $218.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $127.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.27. 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 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $249.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.23.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 42,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,370,900. The trade was a 7.59% 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 sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. 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.