Steven Broz Sells 1,225 Shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total value of $268,765.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,785.80. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Steven Broz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 22nd, Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of Progressive stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32.
• On Friday, June 5th, Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of Progressive stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $128.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $216.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.94.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,260,000. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in Progressive by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $8,447,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $3,025,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $228.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.05.

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.