Quantitative Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Quantitative Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13,078 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PGR. Mizuho set a $236.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.26.

Progressive Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE PGR opened at $218.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $126.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $249.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $217.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,637.50. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,257 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,785.80. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.