Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Director Sells $1,514,310.00 in Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Director Jeffrey Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $224.11 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $201.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.89. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $267.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $130.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.08 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.58.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,197,212 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 19,724.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $806,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.