Financial Strategies Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 27.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 2.1% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $270,000. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 12.7% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 17,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 31,718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,560,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $255.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $251.12 and its 200 day moving average is $227.59. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.14 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 35.21%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total transaction of $2,259,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,412.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,843 shares of company stock valued at $18,674,912 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.