Strs Ohio Buys New Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 400,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $113,456,000. Progressive makes up 0.5% of Strs Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,958,001.74. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.82.

Progressive Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:PGR opened at $246.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $144.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $246.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.12. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $228.54 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.