Paragon Capital Management Inc. Invests $1.30 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 6,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000. Progressive accounts for 1.1% of Paragon Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Mariner LLC raised its position in Progressive by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 644,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47,248 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,807,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $411,506,000 after purchasing an additional 97,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment House LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,447,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% 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. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.3%

PGR stock opened at $207.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $121.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $200.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $267.92.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $259.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $313.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.58.

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.