Insider Selling: The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO Sells $2,759,400.00 in Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $281.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $267.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.52. The firm has a market cap of $164.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Progressive by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,882,000 after acquiring an additional 249,958 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.