LRI Investments LLC Invests $64,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $3,090,000. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after buying an additional 4,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE PGR traded up $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $215.68. 1,972,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,573,005. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $210.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $124.06 and a 52 week high of $229.00. The stock has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Progressive from $276.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at $63,978,003.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 312,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,168 shares of company stock worth $22,937,984 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.