The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Boosted by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,385 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Progressive by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 37,204 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,728,000 after buying an additional 9,050 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Progressive by 20.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,467,191 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $304,775,000 after purchasing an additional 247,144 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth approximately $290,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in Progressive by 13.7% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 23,908 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth approximately $230,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $256.31 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $137.59 and a 12-month high of $260.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $150.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $230.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.53.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.12.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $4,859,739.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at $64,836,041.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Company 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.