Hixon Zuercher LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hixon Zuercher LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 43.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,175 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Progressive by 700.0% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $215.90 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.86. The company has a market cap of $126.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98, a PEG ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $267.92.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.82 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PGR. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Six 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 MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.58.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,511 shares in the company, valued at $5,633,152.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% 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 have sold 8,230 shares of company stock worth $1,651,507 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by 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.