River Road Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 467,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,955 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 1.1% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Progressive worth $102,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.8% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $769,780.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. The trade was a 7.59% 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 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $209.48 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $121.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Progressive 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.