Carnegie Investment Counsel Increases Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 287,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,730 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 1.9% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Progressive were worth $81,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 0.0%

PGR stock opened at $247.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $265.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $208.13 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the sale, the director owned 12,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,181,673.31. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total value of $2,637,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,150,450.96. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,972 shares of company stock valued at $11,764,581. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Progressive Profile

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.