FWG Investments LLC. Takes Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

FWG Investments LLC. purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 210.0% during 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. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 1,885.7% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.90.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,532,802.60. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $325,624.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,356,934.80. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,500 shares of company stock worth $14,430,089. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6%

PGR opened at $206.71 on Friday. 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 Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $206.41 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $237.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

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.