Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 30.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 92,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,484 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $23,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive 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 $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

PGR opened at $266.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $266.18. The company has a market cap of $155.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $253.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.74.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

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.