Golden State Equity Partners Invests $1.32 Million in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,346 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 7.4% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $242.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,176.42. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was 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 owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $227.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $133.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.29.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.19%.

Progressive 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.