Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,042 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 13.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 4.0% in the first quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE PGR opened at $205.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $120.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $205.55 and a one year high of $292.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $237.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.16.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,500 shares of company stock valued at $14,430,089. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $266.00 to $246.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.90.

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.