Heartland Bank & Trust Co Makes New $737,000 Investment in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. HSBC increased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho set a $236.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.05.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of Progressive 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 approximately $8,908,847.43. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $219.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $252.82.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its 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. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.62 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 given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.01%.

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.