The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Purchased by Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA boosted its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 882.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,480 shares during the quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.37.

Progressive Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PGR opened at $231.75 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $261.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $203.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.81. 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 company has a market capitalization of $135.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

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.