Comerica Bank Buys 533 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Comerica Bank raised its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 150,262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $31,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,640 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC grew its position in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 22,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 4.1% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 3.2% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive 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 $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Progressive news, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 974 shares in the company, valued at $213,383.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,168 shares of company stock worth $22,937,984 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $213.40. 763,747 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,569,655. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.22. The company has a market capitalization of $124.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $124.06 and a 52-week high of $229.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $210.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.94.

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.