The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2,530.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,329 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 7.4% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in Progressive by 20.8% in the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $228.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $134.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $226.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.49. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $199.90 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,806.24. This represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 17,673 shares of company stock worth $4,163,005 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.